LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 


GERALD  HOWLAND 


^;:/Z^  i~-^  ^^.^-^  V/f    (  ^-^e_ 


9y7.cr~r 


ROYAL    PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 


.»■•••,"- 


TiiK  Tower  op'  London. 

hi  oil!  an  illniiiinateii  MS.  about  150c  A.u. 


ROYAL  PALACES  OF 
ENGLAND 


CONTRIBUTED    BY 

MARJORY  ROLLINGS,  EDITH  M.  KEATE, 
CATHERINE  JAMISON,    GRACE  A.  ELLIS 

EDITED    BY 

R.    S.    RAIT 


LONDON 
CONSTABLE    &    COMPANY    LTD 

1911 


(BWomi  Qto^e 


THIS  book  derives  its  inspiration  from  work  done 
for  the  "  Victoria  County  History,"  to  the  editor 
of  which,  Mr.  Wilham  Page,  it  owes  much.  The 
historical  students  who,  for  the  last  few  years, 
have  been  making  original  investigations  for  the  "County 
History,"  have,  from  time  to  time,  found  many  intimate 
records  of  the  life  of  the  past  for  which  the  plan  of  this 
"  History"  allowed  no  place.  A  series  of  volumes,  of  which 
I  undertook  the  general  editorship,  was,  therefore,  projected, 
in  order  to  enable  this  interesting,  and  often  picturesque, 
material  to  be  used  to  good  purpose.  The  series  includes 
one  volume  on  the  Episcopal  Palaces  of  the  Province  of 
Canterbury,  one  on  the  Episcopal  Palaces  of  the  Province 
of  York,  and  one  on  the  Royal  Palaces  of  England,  with  an 
extra  volume  on  the  Royal  Palaces  of  Scotland,  suggested 
by,  but  unconnected  with  the  work  done  for  the  "Victoria 
History."  The  present  volume  attempts  to  give  some  account 
of  the  life  lived  by  sovereigns  of  England  within  their  great 
houses,  and  to  show  with  what  periods  and  events  of 
national  history  these  are  associated.  For  the  selection  of 
the  palaces  the  general  editor  is  responsible  ;  the  opinions 
expressed  are  those  of  the  contributors  themselves. 

ROBERT   S.    RAIT. 
New  College,  Oxford. 
September,  1910. 


Conknh 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER.     Marjory  Rollings 


WINDSOR    CASTLE. 


Edith  M.  Keate 


HAMPTON  COURT  PALACE.     Edith  M.  Keate 


WHITEHALL. 


Catherine  Jamison 


ST.  James's  palace.  Catherine  Jamison 


KENSINGTON    PALACE. 


Grace  A.  Ellis 


BUCKINGHAM  PALACE.  Gracc  A.  ElHs 


INDEX 


78 

i5g 

205 
247 
287 

344 
369 


^xBi  of  Jffu0(ra^ion0 


THE    TOWER    OF    LONDON    IN    1 50O 

Frontispiece 

BAMBURGH    CASTLE    IN    1 728  . 

Facing  p 

12 

BAMBURGH    CASTLE            .... 

J) 

16 

WESTMINSTER    HALL,     180I       . 

)> 

24 

SOMERSET    HOUSE    IN    I777      . 

)) 

38 

WESTMINSTER    HALL,    ABOUT    1660 

)> 

50 

RICHMOND    PALACE              .... 

)i 

60 

WOODSTOCK    CASTLE          .... 

>) 

68 

ENFIELD    PALACE 

»> 

72 

HATFIELD    HOUSE 

?> 

76 

WINDSOR    CASTLE,    ROUND    TOWER  . 

>! 

82 

DOVER    CASTLE           

)J 

86 

CORFE    CASTLE            

') 

90 

THEOBALD'S 

M 

92 

HATFIELD    HOUSE 

>) 

120 

BAYNARD's    CASTLE             .... 

. 

140 

WINDSOR    CASTLE    IN     I733       . 

. 

156 

HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE 

. 

170 

LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


HAMPTON    COURT     

REMAINS  OF  KING  JOHN'S  PALACE  AT  ELTHAM,   I787 

HAMPTON    COURT,    1 736  .... 

THE    BANQUETING    HALL,    WHITEHALL      . 

A    VIEW   OF   THE    ANCIENT    ROYAL    PALACE     CALLED 
PLACENTIA   AT   EAST   GREENWICH      . 

WHITEHALL    PALACE 

ST.    JAMES'    PALACE,    PALL    MALL,    IN    184O 

ST.    JAMES'    PALACE    IN    1660   .... 

VIEW   OF   THE    SAVOY,    SOMERSET   HOUSE,  AND  THE 
WATER-ENTRANCE    TO    CUPER's    GARDEN  . 

KENSINGTON    PALACE 

THE    ROYAL    PALACE    OF    KENSINGTON    IN    I75O 

BUCKINGHAM    PALACE 

BUCKINGHAM    PALACE    IN    I79O 

TOWER    OF    LONDON    IN    1737 


Facing  p.   178 

188 
198 

206 
216 

236 
248 
252 

258 
288 
320 

344 

354 
362 


Jn^ro^uc^org  CJap^er 


IN  early  times  and  later  during  the  reigns  of  unsettled 
or  warlike  kings  the  royal  palace  was  usually  one 
which  could  be  strongly  fortified  at  short  notice.  In 
this  way  most  of  the  chief  castles  in  England  became 
royal  residences  at  some  period.  Dover  and  Portchester 
were  as  good  starting-points  for  a  French  invasion  as 
York  and  Tynemouth  for  expeditions  against  the  Scots ; 
Edward  IV.  spent  some  time  at  Fotheringhay,  as  did  his 
rival  at  Hertford ;  and  the  connection  of  the  princes  with  the 
Tower,  and  of  the  Empress  Maud  with  Oxford,  has  been 
known  to  us  all  from  nursery  days. 

In  quieter  times,  and  especially  after  the  Parliament  was 
established  at  Westminster,  the  kings  were  content  to  go  less 
far  afield,  and  by  far  the  greater  number  of  palaces  in  use 
were  situated  in  London  and  its  neighbourhood.  There 
were,  however,  some  in  more  outlying  districts  which  were 
not  altogether  neglected,  for  good  hunting  still  had  power  to 
draw  the  royal  family  from  London.  As  the  country  became 
less  turbulent  the  number  of  royal  hunting-boxes  increased, 
and  Henry  VIII.,  who  seems  always  to  have  desired  variety 
in  the  home,  added  several  new  country-houses  to  the  stock 
which  he  had  inherited :  sometimes,  as  at  Oatlands,  in  order 
to  enlarge  an  estate  which  he  already  possessed ;  sometimes, 
as  in  the  well-known  case  of  Chelsea,  for  the  sake  of  being 
R.P.  B 


ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


near  a  particular  friend.  The  greater  number  of  these  were 
either  sold  or  granted  away  by  his  children,  and  it  has  there- 
fore not  been  thought  worth  while  to  include  them  in  this 
history. 

Winchester  Castle 

The  Castle  at  Winchester  was  built,  according  to  tradition, 
by  King  Arthur :  however  this  may  be,  there  was  certainly 
a  royal  residence  at  Winchester  in  very  early  times.  The 
records,  including  Domesday  Book,  and  the  treasure,  seem 
to  have  been  kept  there  until  the  last  quarter  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

A  new  castle  was  built  after  the  destruction  of  the  Norman 
building.  It  is  said  to  have  had  round  towers  with  walls 
from  eight  to  ten  feet  thick.  Beyond  the  hall  was  a 
"  pleasance  "  with  four  towers,  one  at  each  corner. 

Henry  II.  bought  a  place  in  Winchester  to  keep  his  falcons 
in,  and  in  1203  John  gave  the  custody  of  the  house,  castle 
gates,  and  gaol  to  Matthew  Wallop  "for  service  of  keeping  at 
his  cost  the  birds  put  in  the  castle  to  be  mewed,  and  find- 
ing one  servant  to  mew  them,  and  keep  them  through 
mewing  time."  King  John  added  a  dovecot  to  the  castle. 
Henry  III.  was  born  at  Winchester,  but  he  does  not  seem  to 
have  come  often  to  the  castle  in  later  life,  though  he  spent  a 
good  deal  on  repairs  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign.  The 
stone  for  this  building  was  brought  from  Carisbrooke,  and 
the  verderers  of  the  forest  of  Bere  were  commanded  to  sell 
the  underwood  to  get  money  for  building  a  great  hall  and  to 
cut  oaks  for  the  roof.  King  Henry  also  had  the  queen's 
chamber  panelled  with  Irish  oak,  and  his  own  birth-room 
painted  his  favourite  "  fresh  green  "  :    statues  were  placed  in 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER 


the  porch,  and  a  "  Mappa  Mundi  "  and  Wheel  of  Fortune 
were  hung  in  the  painted  chamber.  There  were  three  chapels 
in  the  palace. 

The  Parliament  was  occasionally  summoned  to  Winchester 
till  the  fifteenth  century.  It  was  during  the  sitting  of  one  of 
these  Parliaments,  which  had  been  called  by  Isabella  and 
Mortimer,  that  Edmund  of  Woodstock  was  brought  out  in 
front  of  the  main  entrance  to  the  castle  to  be  executed,  and, 
according  to  tradition,  was  kept  waiting  there  all  day  before 
any  man  could  be  found  willing  to  be  his  executioner. 

Henry  IV.  paid  at  least  one  visit  to  Winchester,  for  it  was 
there  that  he  married  Joan  of  Brittany  ;  and  Henry  V.  had  an 
interview  with  the  French  ambassadors  there  shortly  before 
he  declared  war  against  France,  but  after  this  date  the  castle 
seems  to  have  been  little  used  as  a  royal  residence. 

In  1570  the  ditch  and  rampart  on  the  west  side  of 
Winchester  Castle  were  overgrown  with  moss  and  small 
bushes.  The  Castle  Green  "  together  with  the  old  walls  and 
ruinous  void  rooms  there  "  was  at  this  time  let  on  condition 
that  the  lessee  kept  it  clean  for  sessions  and  assizes.  The 
roof  of  the  hall  had  been  lately  repaired  by  the  mayor,  and 
the  queen  had  **  spent  much  money  on  the  south  aisle,  but 
the  north  was  so  greatly  decayed  that  the  whole  was  in 
danger  of  falling."  It  was  probably  repaired  soon  afterwards, 
for  although  Queen  Elizabeth  does  not  seem  to  have  come 
often  to  Winchester,  James  I.  was  there  shortly  after  his 
accession,  and  seems  to  have  been  holding  his  Court  at  the 
castle  when  the  Main  and  Bye  Plots  were  discovered. 

King  James  gave  the  castle  to  Sir  Benjamin  Tichborne, 
but  it  was  afterwards  bestowed  by  the  Parliament  on  Sir 
William  W^aller,  who  sold  it  to  the  Corporation  of  Winchester. 
The   hall,  in  which   county   business   had   been  transacted 

B   2 


4         ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

since  the  time  of  Henry  VIH.,  was  sold  by  Waller  at  the 
same  time  to  the  county. 

Charles  11.  began  to  build  in  Winchester  a  red-brick 
palace  after  designs  by  Wren :  the  main  entrance  had  six 
pillars  with  acanthus-leaved  capitals,  and  the  cost  of  the 
whole  building  was  estimated  at  :;^35,ooo.  The  surveyor 
was  ordered  to  buy  land  to  make  a  park  ten  miles  in  circum- 
ference, and  the  king  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  new  palace 
in  1683.  During  the  next  two  years  ;^20,ooo  was  spent  on 
the  building,  but  after  Charles's  death  the  work  slackened  : 
Evelyn,  who  was  there  shortly  after  the  accession  of  James  II., 
remarks  that  His  Majesty  did  *'  not  seem  to  encourage  "  it. 
Queen  Anne,  however,  came  to  Winchester,  and  surveyed 
the  new  palace  herself :  she  intended  to  finish  it  for  her 
husband.  But  the  Prince  of  Denmark  died  before  it  was 
ready  for  him,  and  the  building  was  not  used  until  1756, 
when  it  was  turned  into  a  lodging  for  the  French  prisoners 
of  war. 

Odiham  Castle 

Odiham  Manor  belonged  to  Harold  before  the  Conquest, 
and  it  is  possible  that  William  I.  occasionally  stayed  there 
after  he  had  become  king.  Henry  I.  certainly  had  a  house 
there,  but  the  castle  of  which  the  ruins  now  remain  was 
built  by  King  John,  who  came  often  to  the  place.  His  last 
visit  was  in  April,  12 16,  at  which  time  he  gave  the  custody 
of  the  castle  to  Engelard  de  Cigoinny.  Engelard  seems  to 
have  been  a  negligent  if  not  treacherous  warden,  for  when 
the  Dauphin  and  his  supporters  attacked  the  castle  in  the 
following  July  it  was  garrisoned  only  by  three  knights  and 
ten  sergeants. 

After  a  three  days'  siege  they  sallied  forth  and  engaged  an 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER 


equal  number  of  the  enemy  with  great  success:  the  chivalrous 
Frenchmen  then  allowed  them  to  return  unhurt  into  their 
stronghold.  When  the  castle  was  surrendered,  after  a  defence 
of  fifteen  days,  the  garrison  were  allowed  to  keep  their  arms 
and  horses,  and  marched  out  with  all  honour. 

In  1236  Henry  III.  granted  the  castle  to  his  sister  Eleanor, 
Countess  of  Pembroke,  who  afterwards  married  Simon  de 
Montfort.  She  held  it  till  1258,  when,  under  the  Provisions 
of  Oxford,  all  royal  wardens  were  obliged  to  resign.  The 
Countess,  however,  seems  to  have  lived  at  Odiham  after  this 
date,  and  is  said  to  have  been  visited  there  by  her  brother 
and  nephew  in  1265. 

In  1275  the  castle  was  assigned  to  Queen  Eleanor,  and  in 
1299  to  Queen  Margaret. 

In  1303  a  Parliament  was  held  at  Odiham,  at  which  a 
statute  was  passed  in  favour  of  foreign  merchants. 

In  December,  1307,  the  Keeper  of  Odiham  received  orders 
to  fortify  it  for  the  greater  security  of  the  realm  during  the 
king's  absence  on  his  journey  to  France  for  his  marriage 
with  Isabella.  Four  years  later  the  castle  was  again  fortified 
and  provisioned  against  the  barons,  on  behalf  of  the  king 
and  Gaveston.  Robert  Lewer,  who  was  made  warden  at 
this  time,  was  superseded  in  1317  by  Hugh  Despenser,  but 
regained  his  office  in  1321.  He  was  commanded  to  strengthen 
the  garrison  for  the  king's  service ;  but  he  joined  the  Lancas- 
trian party,  and  John  St.  John  of  Basing  was  therefore 
instructed  to  take  the  castle  from  him  by  force.  St.  John 
seems  to  have  been  successful,  for  Lewer  afterwards  tried  to 
take  it  by  storm  :  the  building  sustained  a  good  deal  of 
damage,  and  much  repairing  was  done  in  1324  and  1325. 

In  1327  Odiham  Castle  was  granted  by  Parliament  to 
Queen  Isabella  "in  recognition  of  her  services  in  suppressing 


6  ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

the  rebellion  of  the  Despensers,"  but  in  1330,  on  the  fall  of 
Mortimer,  her  estates  were  seized  by  the  king.  Odiham 
was  subsequently  granted  to  Queen  Philippa. 

David  II.  was  a  prisoner  here  for  some  time  before  his 
release  in  1357. 

The  castle  was  given  to  Anne  of  Bohemia  by  Richard  II. 
in  1382,  and  was  fortified  in  1386  in  expectation  of  an  attack 
by  the  Duke  of  Gloucester. 

Odiham  does  not  seem  to  have  been  occupied  by  any  one 
of  royal  blood  after  this  date,  though  it  was  assigned  in 
dower  to  Margaret  of  Anjou  in  1454.  Constables  of  the 
castle  were  appointed  until  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  but 
it  was  probably  allowed  to  fall  into  disrepair  about  this  time. 

The  castle  stood  to  the  north-west  of  Odiham  town,  and 
its  ruins  may  still  be  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  Basingstoke 
Canal.  In  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  often  called  the 
Tower  of  Odiham,  and  may  have  been  originally  only  a  great 
tower  :  the  "  houses  in  the  castle  "  are,  however,  mentioned 
as  early  as  1278.  In  the  accounts  of  the  fourteenth  century 
mention  is  made  of  three  gates,  and  of  a  bridge  with  palisades 
on  the  west  side  :  there  are  still  the  remains  of  a  gateway  on 
the  east  side,  and  a  larger  opening  on  the  west.  The  keep 
is  octagonal,  about  36  feet  across  inside,  with  flint  walls 
about  10  feet  thick  pierced  by  round-arched  windows. 

The  park  at  Odiham  is  first  mentioned  in  1216  :  it  was 
afterwards  well  stocked  with  deer,  and  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  king  till  1299,  when  it  was  granted  to 
Margaret,  queen  of  Edward  I. 

PORTCHESTER   CaSTLE 

The  **  hall  "  at  Portchester  is  mentioned  in  Domesday 
Book,  but  it  is  uncertain  whether  any  king  before  Henry  II. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER 


often  stayed  there.  The  king's  treasure  was  moved  from 
Winchester  to  Portchester  in  1163,  and  he  was  there  again  in 
the  following  year  when  the  Bishop  of  Evreux  came  to  try 
to  mediate  between  him  and  Becket.  Henry  also  paid  a 
flying  visit  to  the  place  on  his  way  to  France  in  1172,  and 
stayed  there  on  his  return. 

King  John  also  came  frequently  to  Portchester :  he  stayed 
there  at  the  end  of  April,  1200,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to 
marry  Isabel  of  Angouleme,  and  again  in  the  spring  of  1204. 
He  was  probably  there  when  the  news  of  the  loss  of  Chateau 
Gaillard  reached  him,  and  he  summoned  his  forces  to  meet 
him  there  for  an  expedition  to  France,  which  he  was  after- 
wards obliged  to  abandon  on  account  of  the  opposition  of 
Hubert  Walter  and  the  Earl  Marshal. 

In  1213  he  again  made  plans  for  an  invasion  of  France,  but 
the  barons  refused  to  follow  him,  and  he  seems  to  have  consoled 
himself  at  Portchester  with  the  hunting,  for  he  subsequently 
gave  orders  that  his  hounds  should  be  sent  to  him. 

Henry  III.  visited  Portchester  in  July,  1224,  but  during 
the  following  reign  the  castle  seems  to  have  been  used  chiefly 
as  a  State  prison  :  Robert  Wyshart,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  and 
other  Scotsmen  were  kept  there  in  chains. 

During  the  French  wars  Portchester  was  a  good  deal  used 
as  a  royal  residence.  Edward  II.  spent  many  weeks  there 
in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1324  and  again  in  the  two 
following  summers.  In  August,  1326,  he  issued  writs  of 
array.  He  seems  to  have  expected  an  invasion  of  the  south 
coast,  but  in  September  information  reached  him  that  the 
queen  was  likely  to  land  on  the  east,  and  he  gave  orders 
that  his  forces  should  march  to  the  Orwell.  Edward  III. 
spent  some  time  at  Portchester  in  1346  while  making  ready 
for  the  Crecy  campaign,  and  the  castle  was  frequently  used 


8         ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

as  a  convenient  starting-place  for  France,  but  after  his  death 
it  seems  to  have  been  scarcely  visited  by  any  king,  until  it 
was  again  filled  with  soldiers  for  the  invasion  of  France  by 
Henry  V.  It  was  then  that  Mortimer  discovered  and 
revealed  the  plot  which  Cambridge,  Scrope  and  Grey  had 
made  in  his  favour  :  the  conspirators  were  immediately  sent 
to  Southampton  and  there  beheaded. 

After  this  date  Portchester  apparently  received  little  royal 
notice  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.,  who  stayed  at  the 
castle  with  Anne  Boleyn  in  October,  1535.  The  last  royal 
visitor  was  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  paid  a  visit  in  1601  :  the 
castle  was  granted  to  Sir  William  Uvedale  by  Charles  I. 

York  Castle 

York  was  often  used  by  the  Plantagenet  kings  as  their 
headquarters  when  they  had  business  in  the  north.  It  was 
there  that  the  council  was  called  at  which  Henry  II.  took 
the  fealty  of  the  Scottish  king  in  1173  ;  on  which  occasion 
William  the  Lion  is  said  to  have  offered  his  armour  on 
the  altar  of  St.  Peter  in  token  of  subjection.  This  pledge 
was  mentioned  to  the  Pope  in  a  statement  of  the  claims 
of  Edward  I.  to  the  overlordship,  though  Richard  I.  had 
acknowledged  Scottish  independence.  King  John  had  a 
meeting  with  the  King  of  Scots  at  York  in  1199,  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  his  only  important  visit;  perhaps 
because  the  citizens  did  not  show  a  proper  appreciation 
of  its  importance :  they  were  subsequently  fined  £100 
because  they  did  not  meet  the  Lord  King  with  due  respect 
when  he  came  to  the  city.  Apparently  they  learnt  wisdom 
from  this  misfortune,  for  Henry  III.  complained  of  nothing 
in   his   reception,   though    he   paid   several  visits   to   York. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER 


His  sister's  marriage  to  Alexander  of  Scotland  took  place 
there  in  1220,  and  Henry's  subsequent  visits  were  chiefly 
for  the  purpose  of  friendly  meetings  with  his  brother- 
in-law.  In  1230  they  kept  a  three  days'  festival  together  at 
Christmastide.  After  Alexander's  death  Henry  made  another 
alliance  with  Scotland,  and  in  1251  he  came  to  York  for  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter  to  the  little  King  of  Scots.  On 
this  occasion  the  King  of  England  was  the  guest  of  the 
Archbishop  of  York,  who  showed  the  greatest  hospitality  to 
all,  "  exhibiting  in  great  abundance  whatever  this  transitory 
world  could  afford  .  .  .  insomuch  that  this  meeting  for  his 
master's  honour  cost  him  4,000  marks,  which,"  as  the 
chronicler  sadly  remarks,  "  was  all  sown  on  a  barren  soil  and 
never  sprang  up  to  his  profit." 

Edward  I.  came  to  York  several  times  during  his  wars 
with  Scotland,  and  the  Courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Exchequer 
were  established  there  for  seven  years.  They  were  again 
held  in  the  city  for  six  months  in  1319,  when  Edward  II. 
was  there :  twenty-one  carts  filled  with  the  records  are  said 
to  have  come  from  Westminster  on  this  occasion. 

The  king  visited  York  again  in  1322  and  called  a  Parlia- 
ment when  the  Despensers  were  recalled.  At  Ascensiontide 
he  made  his  eldest  son  Edward  Prince  of  Wales  and  Duke 
of  Aquitaine.  He  also  spent  the  following  Christmas  in  the 
city,  but  this  seems  to  have  been  his  last  visit. 

Edward  III.  kept  his  Court  at  York  "in  the  house  of  the 
Friars  Minors  "  at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  The  festivities 
were  disturbed  by  "  a  strange  and  hideous  noise  which  arose  " 
on  account  of  a  quarrel  between  the  Hainaulters  and  some 
archers  of  Lincoln  and  Northants :  the  king  was  obliged  to 
interfere  to  protect  the  foreigners.  Eighty  men  of  Lincoln 
were  said  to  have  been  slain  in  this  fray :  they  were  buried 


lo        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

under  a  stone  in  St.  Clement  Church  in  Fossgate.  The 
king  called  a  ParHament  at  York  in  1334  :  he  seems  to  have 
spent  a  good  deal  of  time  there  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign, 
but  after  he  turned  his  attention  to  France  rather  than  to 
Scotland  the  city  saw  him  no  more,  though  it  was  honoured 
by  visits  from  Queen  Philippa,  who  came  to  raise  troops 
when  a  Scottish  invasion  was  expected. 

Richard  II.  came  to  York  occasionally,  and  the  Courts  of 
King's  Bench  and  Exchequer  were  there  from  Midsummer 
till  Christmas  in  1392,  but  after  the  war  with  Scotland  had 
begun  to  dwindle  into  border  raiding  royal  visits  became 
less  frequent.  King  Richard  was  in  the  city  for  the  more 
amiable  purpose  of  settling  a  quarrel  between  the  mayor  and 
the  archbishop  ;  and  neither  Henry  IV.  nor  Henry  V.  seems 
to  have  paid  more  than  one  visit.  Henry  V.  came  to  show 
his  bride,  who  had  just  been  crowned  at  Westminster,  and 
to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St.  John  of  Beverley. 

During  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  both  kings  were  at  York  at 
different  times  :  the  only  member  of  the  royal  family  whom 
the  city  seems  to  have  regarded  with  anything  more  than 
indifference  was  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester.  Apparently 
he  succeeded  in  winning  there  the  popularity  which  he  sought 
vainly  in  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  and  it  is  said  that  he  was 
received  with  great  splendour  there  after  his  coronation, 
which  was  repeated  at  York  and  followed  by  tournaments, 
revels,  and  triumphant  sports.  The  citizens'  affection  seems 
to  have  lasted  after  his  death,  for  all  the  country  round  was 
much  disturbed  at  the  time  of  Simnel's  rebellion,  in  which 
John  de  la  Pole,  whom  Richard  had  named  his  successor, 
took  part.  Henry  VII.  subsequently  paid  an  ingratiating 
visit  to  the  city,  and  disaffection  gradually  died  out. 

Probably  York  Castle  did  not  afford  enough  accommodation 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  ii 

for  Henry  VIII.  Even  earlier  and  less  splendour-loving 
kings  had  been  obliged  sometimes  to  borrow  the  convent 
of  the  Friars  Minors  or  St.  Mary's  Abbey;  and  after 
the  Dissolution  the  king  ordered  the  abbey  buildings  to  be 
converted  into  a  palace.  He  stayed  there  in  1541,  but  the 
house  subsequently  became  the  residence  of  the  Lords  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  of  the  North  :  James  I.  and  Charles  I. 
paid  occasional  visits,  but  after  1642  the  palace  was  not  used 
by  any  king,  though  James  II.  was  there  twice  when  he  was 
Duke  of  York. 

Bamburgh  Castle 

Bamburgh  is  first  mentioned  in  connection  with  Ida,  King 
of  Northumbria,  who  according  to  tradition  "timbered 
Bebbanburgh  that  was  first  fortified  with  a  hedge  and  there- 
after with  a  wall,"  in  547.  The  castle  or  fort  then  existing 
was  called  Dinquaroy,  but  Ida's  grandson  Ethelfrith  the 
Destroyer  gave  it  to  his  wife  Bebba. 

Bamburgh  was  twice  besieged  by  Penda  :  it  is  said  to  have 
been  saved  finally  by  St.  Aidan,  who  saw  from  Fame  Island 
the  flames  and  smoke  rising  above  the  walls  and  cried  "  See, 
Lord,  what  great  evil  Penda  doeth !  "  whereupon  the  wind 
shifted  right  round,  and  drove  the  fire  back  on  the  Mercians, 
who  were  forced  to  break  up  their  camp. 

Alcred,  King  of  Northumbria,  stayed  at  Bamburgh  for  a 
short  time  in  774  :  the  castle  is  then  said  to  have  been  "  most 
strongly  fortified,  not  very  large  .  .  .  having  one  entrance 
hollowed  out  of  the  rock  and  raised  in  steps  after  a  marvellous 
fashion." 

When  the  Earldom  of  Northumberland  was  granted  by 
Stephen  to  Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  Bamburgh  Castle 
was  excepted  from  the  grant,  but  it  was  afterwards  given  up, 


12        ROYAL   PALACES   OF    ENGLAND 

and  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Scottish  kings  until  1157, 
when  Henry  II.  recovered  it  from  Malcolm  IV. 

Henry  made  several  additions  to  his  newly  recovered 
possession  and  probably  built  the  castle  as  we  now  know  it : 
the  "  great  tower  "  was  built  in  1164,  and  the  work  of  building 
seems  to  have  been  carried  on  for  the  next  five  years.  In 
1 197  further  improvements  were  made,  and  in  the  following 
year  the  castle  gates  were  repaired.  King  John  stayed  at 
Bamburgh  in  February,  1201,  and  spent  more  than  £87  on 
building  and  repairs  there  during  the  next  three  years. 

Henry  III.  visited  the  castle  in  March,  1221,  and  gaveorders 
for  the  building  of  a  good  granary  150  feet  long  and  34  feet 
broad.  This  was  finished  in  the  summer  of  the  following 
year,  and  in  June  instructions  were  sent  to  have  it  ready  for 
corn  at  harvest.  In  1237  ^  i^^w  granary  and  a  bakehouse 
were  built. 

Edward  I.  summoned  John  Balliol  to  meet  him  at  Bam- 
burgh in  1296,  and  stayed  there  himself  on  his  return  from 
Scotland  in  the  following  September :  he  was  there  again  in 
1299.  Edward  II.  spent  less  time  in  the  north,  and  does  not 
seem  to  have  visited  Bamburgh.  The  custody  of  the  castle 
was  given  to  John  de  Eslington,  who  was  captured  by  the 
Scots  at  Bannockburn.  The  king  appointed  Roger  de 
Horsley  in  his  place,  but  Bamburgh  seems  to  have  been 
much  neglected  at  this  time,  for  it  was  almost  in  ruins  at  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  The  stone  roof  of 
Davy's  Tower  had  been  blown  off  in  a  storm,  and  the  roof 
of  the  Bell  Tower  was  gone,  so  that  the  great  beams  were 
rotten  with  rain  ;  and  the  great  hall  and  kitchen  were  equally 

need  of  repair. 

Iri  1333  Queen  Philippa  stayed  at  Bamburgh  while 
Edward  III.  was  making  his  attack  on  Berwick  in  support 


>5    a 


—    -J 


5    C; 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  13 

of  Edward  Balliol.  During  her  visit  Archibald  Dou^^las 
marched  on  Bamburgh,  hoping  thereby  to  force  the  Enghsh 
to  raise  their  siege,  but  he  was  defeated  at  Hahdon  Hill.  In 
1346  David  II.  was  brought  to  Bamburgh  after  the  battle  of 
Neville's  Cross.  William  of  Bolton  and  Hugh  Kilvington 
came  from  York  to  take  the  arrow  out  of  the  king's  wound 
and  '*  heal  him  with  all  speed  "  :  they  received  a  fee  of  £b 
for  their  services.  Edward  Balliol  subsequently  surrendered 
to  the  English  king  all  his  interest  in  the  kingdom  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  final  agreement  for  this  surrender  took  place 
at  Bamburgh  in  January,  1356.  Edward  III.  visited  the 
castle  again  on  his  return  from  East  Lothian  after  the  Burnt 
Candlemas,  but  after  this  date  Bamburgh  does  not  seem  to 
have  had  any  royal  visitors  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 

In  1462  Margaret  of  Anjou  landed  near  Bamburgh  and 
stayed  at  the  castle,  which  was  afterwards  besieged  by  the 
Yorkists.  After  a  long  siege,  the  queen  having  escaped, 
the  garrison  surrendered,  on  condition  that  Percy  should 
have  the  custody  of  the  castle.  The  reason  for  this  request 
was  made  plain  in  the  Lent  following,  when  he  let  the 
Lancastrians  take  Bamburgh  from  him  ;  and  about  two 
months  later  Henry  V'l.  came  thither  from  Scotland  with 
Queen  Margaret. 

The  Lancastrians  did  not,  however,  make  much  progress. 
After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  on  Norham,  Margaret  returned 
to  Bamburgh,  and,  leaving  the  king  in  the  castle,  set  sail  for 
France  with  her  son.  Henry  remained  at  Bamburgh  for  the 
next  nine  months,  and  after  Warwick's  withdrawal  seems  to 
have  ruled  almost  undisturbed  over  the  neighbourhood.  In 
January,  1464,  he  conferred  a  charter  on  the  burgesses  of 
Edinburgh,  granting  them  special  privileges  in  trading  with 
the  land  in  his  possession. 


14        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

After  the  Lancastrian  defeat  at  Hexham,  Henry  put  Sir 
Ralph  Grey  in  command  at  Bamburgh  and  left  the  castle. 
Warwick,  who  had  returned  to  the  north,  thereupon  laid 
siege  to  Bamburgh,  and  summoned  Sir  Ralph  "and  other 
that  kept  his  rebellious  opinion  "  to  deliver  it  up.  Grey 
replied  that  he  found  the  castle  so  fair  a  place  that  he  had 
clearly  determined  within  himself  to  live  and  die  there.  The 
heralds  then  delivered  their  final  message  :  "  If  ye  deliver  not 
this  jewel, — the  which  the  king  our  most  dread  sovereign 
lord  hath  so  greatly  in  favour  (seeing  it  marcheth  so  nigh 
his  ancient  enemy  of  Scotland)  that  he  specially  desireth  to 
have  it  whole,  unbroken  with  ordinance, — if  ye  suffer  one 
great  gun  to  be  laid  unto  the  wall,  and  be  shot,  and  prejudice 
the  wall,  it  shall  cost  you  the  chieftain's  head,  and  so  pro- 
ceeding for  every  gun  shot  to  the  last  head  of  any  person  in 
the  place." 

Notwithstanding  this  threat  Sir  Ralph  Grey  refused  to 
surrender  the  castle,  and  at  Warwick's  orders  "  Newcastle," 
the  largest  gun,  and  "  London,"  the  second,  "so  betyde  the 
place  that  the  stones  of  the  walls  flew  into  the  sea  .  .  .  and 
Dysyon  a  brazen  gun  of  the  king  oftentimes  smote  through 
Sir  Rafe  Grey's  chamber."  After  a  brave  defence  the 
castle  was  taken,  and  Grey  was  brought  to  Edward  IV.  at 
Doncaster  and  there  executed :  one  is  sorry  that  he  did  not 
manage  to  die  in  Bamburgh  as  he  had  determined. 

After  this  date  Bamburgh  does  not  seem  to  have  received 
any  further  royal  notice  until  1537,  when  the  king's  grace 
"  having  journeyed  in  the  morning  a  ten  mile  dined  at  the 
castle."  The  place  was  described  at  that  time  as  "so 
naturally  strong  that  hardly  can  anywhere  (in  my  opinion) 
be  found  the  like  :  inaccessible  on  all  sides,  as  well  for  the 
great  height  of  the  crag  on  which  it  standeth  as  also  for  the 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  15 

outward  form  of  the  stone  whereof  the  crag  is ;  which  .  .  . 
I  may  liken  to  the  shape  of  long  havens  (faggots)  standing  on 
end.  .  .  .  Thus  is  it  fenced  about  and  hath  hereto  on  the  east 
side  the  sea,  at  flood  coming  up  to  the  hard  walls.  This 
castle  is  very  ancient,  and  called  in  Arthur's  days,  as  I  have 
heard,  Joyous  Garde." 

In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  the  custody  of  the  castle  was 
given  to  Sir  John  Forster,  who  allowed  the  place  to  fall  into 
utter  ruin.  In  June,  1575,  it  was  said  that  "  the  Drawbridge 
and  gates  ys  so  broken  that  there  is  no  usuall  entry  on  the 
fore  part  save  at  a  breach  in  the  wall."  The  jury  declared 
that  they  did  not  know  by  whom  the  damage  had  been  done, 
but  though  Sir  John  escaped  censure,  his  neglect  ultimately 
turned  to  the  disadvantage  of  his  grandson  Claudius,  to  whom 
the  castle  and  lordship  were  given  by  James  I. 

FOTHERINGHAY   CaSTLE 

The  manor  of  Fotheringhay  was  held  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century  "  of  the  King  of  Scots  by  service  of  one 
hawk  yearly  "  by  Christian,  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon, 
and  Devorguilla,  wife  of  John  Balliol,  but  it  afterwards 
came  to  the  English  crown  and  was  eventually  given  by 
Edward  III.  to  Edmund  of  Langley,  Duke  of  York. 
Edmund  repaired  the  castle,  which  was  ruinous,  and  is  said 
to  have  rebuilt  the  keep  "in  the  form  of  a  fetter  lock,  a 
device  of  the  House  of  York." 

Richard,  Duke  of  York,  lived  at  Fotheringhay  after  his 
marriage  with  Cecily  Neville,  and  their  third  son,  afterwards 
King  Richard  III.,  was  born  there.  Elizabeth  Woodville 
seems  to  have  stayed  there  with  her  mother-in-law  in  1469  : 
they  were  joined,  on  the  news  of  the  northern  insurrection, 


i6        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

by  Edward  IV.,  who  came  in  great  haste  from  Croyland  by 
water.  In  the  same  year  Cecily  gave  up  her  right  in  the  manor 
to  the  king,  but  she  seems  to  have  continued  to  live  in  the 
castle  ;  and  she  desired  that  when  she  died  her  body  might 
be  buried  beside  that  of  her  "  most  entirely  best  beloved  lord 
and  husband  .  .  .  within  the  church  at  Fotheringhay." 

The  castle  afterwards  belonged  to  Elizabeth  of  York,  and 
was  given  by  Henry  VIII.  in  dower  to  his  queen  Katherine 
of  Aragon,  who,  it  is  said,  "  did  great  costs  of  refreschinge 
it."  The  building  is  described  about  this  time  as  "  fair,  and 
metely  strong,  Vv^ith  double  ditches  and  a  kepe  very  auncient : 
there  be  very  fair  lodgyns."  The  double  moat  and  goodly 
lodgings  are  mentioned  again  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  at 
which  time  the  great  dining-room  was  **  well  garnished  with 
pictures." 

Fotheringhay  is,  however,  best  known  as  the  prison  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  who  was  executed  on  a  scaffold  raised 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall  in  1586.  She  was  the  last  queen 
who  lived  at  the  castle,  for  James  I.  gave  it  to  Charles,  Lord 
Montjoy,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 

The  Tower  of  London 

The  Tower  of  London  was  always  at  least  as  much  a 
fortress  as  a  palace,  and  it  was  probably  for  this  reason  that  it 
was  most  used  by  the  kings  in  troubled  reigns.  The  first  to 
keep  his  Court  there  seems  to  have  been  Stephen,  who  held 
the  feast  of  Whitsuntide  at  the  Tower  in  1140,  when 
Geoffrey  de  Mandeville  was  keeper  of  the  fortress;  but  when 
the  civil  war  had  ended  there  was  less  need  for  the  king  to  live 
behind  such  strong  fortifications,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
Henry  II.  ever  resided  there. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  17 

The  palace  was  strongly  rcfortified  and  repaired  by  King 
John,  and  was  besieged  by  the  citizens  of  London  and  the 
barons  in  May,  1215.  It  held  out  till  news  came  of  the 
granting  of  the  Charter,  and  was  then  delivered  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  in  accordance  with  the  king's  agreement. 
In  the  following  year  it  was  surrendered  to  Louis  of  France. 
The  building  seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal  battered  in  this 
war,  for  extensive  repairs  were  carried  out  during  the  first 
ten  years  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III. :  it  was,  however,  possible 
to  live  there  as  early  as  1220,  for  in  that  year  the  king  kept 
his  Court  at  the  Tower  during  Lent.  Lenten  fare  at  Court 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  economical,  for  although  the 
bailiffs  of  Gloucester  sent  three  hundred  lampreys,  the 
king  was  obliged  to  borrow  two  hundred  marks  from  Pandulf 
and  one  hundred  from  Henry  of  St.  Albans  for  the  expenses 
of  the  household. 

In  1232  the  custody  of  the  Tower  was  given  to  Hubert  de 
Burgh,  and  in  the  following  year  the  king  gave  orders  that 
the  palace  should  be  the  residence  of  his  sister  Isabel,  who 
accordingly  lived  there  till  her  marriage  with  the  Emperor 
in  1235. 

In  1239  Henry  III.  began  to  rebuild  the  fortifications  and 
make  additions  to  them,  which,  however,  were  twice  destroyed 
as  if  by  earthquake.  If  the  king  did  not  know  the  cause  of 
this  downfall,  it  was  at  least  plain  to  all  London  :  the  spirit 
of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  had  returned  to  protect  his 
birth-place  from  the  aggressions  intended  by  the  Court  party 
and  had  actually  been  seen,  by  a  most  trustworthy  man,  at 
his  work  of  destruction. 

Notwithstanding  this  warning,  Edward  I.  continued  the 
fortifications  when  he  became  king,  and  he  succeeded  in 
making  them  firm  and  strong.     In  his  reign  the  Tower  was 

R.P.  C 


i8        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

much  used  as  a  State  prison,  and  the  king  himself  does  not 
seem  to  have  kept  his  Court  there  for  any  length  of  time. 
Edward  II.  added  more  fortifications  and  continued  to  use 
the  Tower  as  a  State  prison :  Roger  Mortimer  of  Wigmore 
was  sent  there  towards  the  end  of  the  reign,  but  he  escaped 
and  joined  the  queen  in  France. 

Then,  when  danger  was  upon  him,  the  king  again  made 
the  Tower  his  dwelling-place,  and  in  June  the  mayor,  sheriffs, 
and  aldermen  of  London  came  before  him  there  and  took 
his  commands  for  keeping  the  city  quiet.  There  he  received 
the  news  of  the  queen's  landing,  and  issued  a  proclamation 
offering  a  reward  for  Mortimer's  head.  Shortly  afterwards 
the  Tower  itself  surrendered  to  the  enemy. 

Edward  III.  spent  much  of  the  first  two  years  of  his  reign 
at  the  Tower,  but  after  he  had  entered  upon  his  foreign  wars 
the  place  came  to  be  regarded  more  and  more  as  a  strong 
fortress  to  be  used  as  a  protection  for  the  city.  Great 
preparations  for  its  defence  were  made  in  1337,  when  Edward 
seems  to  have  been  expecting  a  French  invasion.  He 
hastened  on  the  works  at  the  Tower,  sent  an  order  to  the 
sheriffs  of  London  to  cause  all  manner  of  supplies  to  be 
carried  there  without  delay,  and  wrote  a  sharp  letter  to  the 
sheriff  of  Essex,  complaining  that  the  timber  which  he  had 
ordered  from  Havering-atte- Bower  had  not  yet  arrived,  and 
bidding  him  see  to  it  "  that  the  works  which  the  king  ordered 
to  be  done  by  a  certain  day  be  not  retarded  by  his  negligence, 
whereby  the  King  maybe  obliged  to  punish  him."  Nor  was 
it  only  the  sheriff  whose  slackness  aroused  the  king's  wrath, 
for  a  short  time  afterwards  he  found  it  necessary  to  send  an 
indignant  message  to  Nicholas  de  la  Beche,  Constable  of  the 
Tower :  had  he  not  **  ordered  Nicholas,  because  of  certain 
news  whicji  came  to  his  ears,  to  cause  the  Tower  to  be  safely 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  19 

guarded,  and  to  take  cath  from  the  officers  and  others  who 
dwell  there  not  to  leave  the  Tower  at  night  without  leave  ? 
And  now  he  was  informed  that  notwithstanding  that  order 
divers  officers  went  to  the  city  of  London  and  to  other  places 
after  sunset." 

This  rebuke  seems  to  have  had  the  desired  effect,  for  the 
king  had  no  further  complaints  to  make  that  year.  When 
the  cat  went  away,  however,  the  mice  began  to  play  again  ; 
and  when  Edward,  who  was  probably  not  without  suspicions, 
suddenly  returned  to  England  in  November,  1341,  and  landed 
at  midnight  for  a  surprise  visit  to  the  Tower,  he  found  that 
place  insufficiently  guarded.  The  governor  was  imprisoned, 
and  the  king  gave  orders  that  in  his  place  Edward  the  Black 
Prince  should  live  in  the  Tower  and  see  that  it  was  provided 
with  all  things  necessary  for  safety  and  defence. 

Richard  II.  came  to  the  Tower  for  safety  at  the  time  ot 
Wat  Tyler's  rebellion,  and  again  in  1387.  In  1390  he  held 
a  great  feast  there,  followed  by  a  tournament  at  Smithfield. 
"  The  first  day  was  called  the  feast  of  challenge,  and  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  there  issued  out  of  the  Tower 
of  London,  first  threescore  coursers  apparelled  for  the  jousts 
and  on  every  one  an  esquire  of  honour,  riding  a  soft  pace ; 
and  then  threescore  ladies  of  honour  mounted  on  fair 
palfreys  .  .  .  richly  apparelled ;  and  every  lady  led  a  knight 
with  a  chain  of  silver,  which  knights  were  apparelled  to 
joust ;  and  thus  they  came  riding  along  the  streets  of 
London  with  great  number  of  trumpets  and  other  minstrels 
and  so  came  to  Smithfield,  where  the  king  and  queen  with 
many  ladies  and  damsels  were  ready  in  chambers  richly 
adorned  to  see  the  jousts.  .  .  .  And  many  commendable 
courses  were  run  to  the  great  pleasure,  recreation  and  comfort 
of  the  king  and  queen  and  all  other  beholders." 

c   2 


20        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Richard  came  to  the  Tower  for  the  last  time  in  1399  ; 
and  it  was  at  a  council  held  there  in  September  of  that  year 
that  he  was  obliged  to  abdicate. 

The  first  two  Lancastrians  do  not  seem  to  have  kept  Court 
for  any  length  of  time  at  the  Tower,  though  both  stayed 
there  for  a  few  days  before  their  coronations,  and  proceeded 
thence  through  the  City  to  Westminster  according  to 
custom.  This  custom  was  observed  even  at  the  hurried 
coronation  of  Edward  IV.,  who  came  from  Shene  to  the 
Tower  in  1461,  and  there  entertained  the  most  powerful  of 
the  Yorkists.  Before  his  coronation  he  made  thirty-two  of 
his  supporters  Knights  of  the  Bath,  "  who,  being  arrayed  in 
blue  gowns  with  hoods  and  tokens  of  white  silk  upon  their 
shoulders,  rode  before  him  to  Westminster." 

In  1464  Henry  VI.  was  brought  as  a  prisoner  to  the  Tower, 
where  he  remained  for  five  years.  Visitors  were  admitted 
to  see  him,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  always 
friendly,  for  during  his  short  restoration  in  1471  Henry 
pardoned  a  man  who  had  struck  him  with  a  dagger  when  he 
was  a  prisoner.  At  the  same  time  Edward  IV.  kept  his 
Court  frequently  at  the  Tower,  and  it  was  thence  that  he 
fled  to  Holland  and  his  queen  to  sanctuary  at  Westminster 
when  "  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  companied  by  the  Earls  of 
Warwick  and  Shrewsbury,  Lord  Stanley  and  other  lords  and 
gentlemen  .  .  .  brought  King  Henry  VI.  apparelled  in  a 
long  gown  of  blue  velvet  through  the  streets  of  London  to 
the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul  :  the  people  on  the  right 
hand  and  on  the  left  rejoicing  and  crying  *  God  save  the 
King !  ' "  as  they  showed  themselves  ready  to  do,  no  matter 
which  king  entered  the  City. 

Edward  V.  came  to  the  Tower  shortly  after  his  uncle 
Richard  was  made  Protector,  and  was  afterwards  joined  by 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  21 

his  brother.  The  queen  had  fled  to  Westminster  with  her 
younger  son,  but  the  sanctuary  was  surrounded  by  armed 
men,  and  she  was  induced  to  give  him  up.  The  affair  was 
thus  described  in  a  letter  of  the  time  : — 

"  For  tidings  I  hold  you  happy  that  ye  arc  out  of  the 
press,  for  with  us  is  much  trouble  and  every  man  doubts  the 
other,  as  on  Friday  last  the  Lord  Chamberlain  (Hastings) 
was  headed  soon  upon  noon.  On  Monday  last  was  at  West- 
minster great  plenty  of  harnessed  (i.e.  armed)  men.  There 
was  the  deliverance  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  my  Lord 
Cardinal,  my  Lord  Chancellor  and  many  other  lords  tem- 
poral :  and  with  him  met  my  Lord  of  Buckingham  in  the 
midst  of  the  Hall  of  Westminster,  my  Lord  Protector 
receiving  him  at  the  Star  Chamber  door  with  many  loving 
words,  and  so  departed  with  my  Lord  Cardinal  to  the  Tower, 
where  he  is,  blessed  be  Jesu,  merry."  Before  two  months 
had  passed  both  the  children  were  dead. 

Their  sister  Elizabeth  of  York  returned  in  happier  times 
to  the  Tower,  where  she  was  received  by  King  Henry  VIL, 
and  their  Majesties  kept  open  household,  until  the  queen 
**  in  white  cloth  of  gold,  her  fair  yellow  hair  flowing  loose, 
and  adorned  with  a  circlet  of  gold  and  jewels,"  proceeded  to 
Westminster  for  her  coronation. 

In  1501  Henry  VII.  held  a  splendid  tournament  at  the 
Tower,  but  after  this  date  the  building  seems  hardly  ever  to 
have  been  used  as  a  palace,  except  during  the  three  days 
before  a  coronation.  Edward  VI.  came  there  after  his 
father's  death,  "and  after  the  Earl  of  Hertford  the  Lord 
Admiral  and  others  had  brought  his  Highness  from  the  privy 
chamber  to  the  chair  of  estate,  all  the  lords  proceeded  one 
after  the  other,  according  to  their  degrees,  and  kneeling  down 
before  him,  kissed  his  hand  saying  *  God  save  your  Grace.' 


22        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Then  Sir  Thomas  Wriothesley  the  Lord  Chancellor  declared 
to  them  the  late  king's  will  and  the  names  of  his  executors. 
.  .  This  ended,  they  cried  all  together  with  a  loud  voice 
*  God  save  King  Edward !  '  and  his  Grace,  putting  off  his 
cap,  answered  '  We  heartily  thank  you,  my  lords  all.'  " 

On  July  10, 1553,  Lady  Jane  Grey  made  her  public  entry  into 
the  Tower  as  Queen  of  England,  but  before  she  could  pro- 
ceed thence  in  the  approved  manner  to  Westminster  for 
her  coronation  she  had  been  replaced  by  Queen  Mary,  who 
remained  at  the  palace  until  her  brother's  funeral.  Mary 
came  again  to  the  Tower,  according  to  custom,  on  "  Thurs- 
day before  the  coronation  "  (October  i),  and  subsequently 
made  her  procession  through  the  City,  where  she  was  greeted 
by  "  goodly  pageants,  and  devices  therein,  with  music  and 
eloquent  speeches.  The  queen  was  carried  in  a  litter,  and 
the  Lady  Elizabeth  and  the  Lady  Anne  (of  Cleves)  followed 
in  a  chariot." 

In  November,  1558,  Elizabeth  established  her  Court  at  the 
Tower,  but  she  moved  to  Somerset  House  early  in  December, 
and  did  not  return  until  the  traditional  date,  when  she  came 
by  water.  She  was  **  attended  by  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  in 
their  barges,  and  all  the  crafts  in  their  barges,  decked  and 
trimmed  with  the  banners  of  their  misteries  :  and  thus  with 
great  and  pleasant  melody  of  instruments — which  played  in 
most  sweet  and  heavenly  manner — her  Grace  passed  the 
Bridge  about  two  of  the  clock  and  came  to  the  Tower." 

At  the  coronation  of  James  I.  the  customary  procession 
from  the  Tower  to  Westminster  did  not  take  place,  by  reason 
of  the  plague.  But  so  great  was  the  disappointment  of  the 
citizens,  who  had  made  preparations,  that  James  afterwards 
"  passed  triumphantly  from  the  Tower  to  Westminster 
together  with  the   queen  and  Prince   Henry  his  son  to  the 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  23 

opening  of  Parliament :  he  rode  on  a  white  gennet  under  a 
rich  canopy  borne  by  six  privy  councillors,"  and  the 
Londoners  were  appeased. 

The  old  custom,  however,  once  broken,  soon  died. 
Charles  II.  made  a  magnificent  effort  to  revive  it,  but  the 
very  magnificence  of  its  revival  hastened  its  decay.  "  For  it 
is  incredible  to  think  what  costly  clothes  were  worn  that 
day  :  the  cloaks  could  hardly  be  seen  what  silk  or  satin  they 
were  of,  for  the  gold  and  silver  lace  and  embroidery  that 
were  laid  upon  them ;  besides  the  value  of  diamonds,  pearls, 
and  other  jewels  worn  ...  so  that  all  the  world  that  saw  it 
could  not  but  confess  that  all  they  had  seen  before  was  but 
solemn  mummery  to  the  most  august,  noble,  and  true  glories 
of  this  great  day.  Even  the  vaunting  French,"  writes  the 
proud  chronicler  of  English  extravagance,  "  confessed  their 
pomps  of  the  marriage  with  the  Infanta  of  Spain  to  be 
inferior  in  state  gallantry  and  riches  to  this  most  glorious 
cavalcade  from  the  Tower."  The  result  of  all  this  splendour 
was  that  at  the  coronation  of  James  II.  the  ceremony  of 
Court-keeping  at  the  Tower  and  the  procession  thence  to 
Westminster  were  abandoned  '*  because  of  the  great  expense 
as  well  to  the  government  as  the  city."  In  the  following 
reign  the  remainder  of  the  domestic  apartments  of  the 
ancient  palace  were  pulled  down,  and  the  Tower  of  London 
has  never  since  that  date  been  used  as  a  royal  dwelling-place. 

Westminster  Palace 

According  to  tradition  there  was  a  royal  palace  at  West- 
minter  at  least  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Canute,  but  this 
building  was  burnt  to  the  ground  in  the  time  of  Edward  the 
Confessor,  who  afterwards  rebuilt  it  in  more  splendid  fashion. 


24       ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Canute  is  said  to  have  come  frequently  to  the  place  to  be 
near  Wulfnoth,  the  Abbot  of  Westminster,  whom  he  had 
made  his  friend.  From  one  of  the  windows  here  Eadric  the 
traitor  was  supposed  to  have  been  flung  into  the  Thames  ; 
but  the  Tower  of  London  has  also  been  claimed  as  the  place 
of  his  death,  and  the  existence  of  a  palace  at  Westminster  at 
that  time  has  been  denied. 

The  connection  of  the  Confessor  with  Westminster  Palace 
is,  however,  less  doubtful.  The  chroniclers  are  agreed  that 
it  was  here  that  he  spent  his  last  days,  and  saw  those 
wonderful  visions  concerning  his  descendants  which  he  was 
afterwards  said  to  have  revealed  on  his  death-bed. 

William  I.  kept  the  feast  of  Whitsuntide  at  Westminster 
in  1086,  and  there  made  Henry,  his  youngest  son,  a  knight. 
The  great  Hall  was  built  by  William  Rufus,  whose  con- 
temporaries, we  are  told,  considered  it  far  too  large.  But  to 
these  objectors  the  king  is  said  to  have  replied  that  it  was 
not  nearly  large  enough,  and  would  appear  but  an  alcove  in 
the  hall  which  he  intended  to  build.  As  the  expenses  of  the 
work  had  been  paid  out  of  the  revenues  of  vacant  bishoprics, 
the  great  Hall  ought  certainly  to  have  fallen  down  as  soon  as 
it  was  finished,  like  the  fortifications  at  the  Tower  in  later 
times,  yet  it  proved  to  be  the  most  lasting  part  of  the  palace. 
This  was  perhaps  owing  to  the  fact  that  there  was  then  no 
Thomas  Becket  to  pull  down  the  walls  with  ghostly  hands ; 
but  the  work  of  destruction  might  have  been  carried  out  by 
some  other  saintly  spirit.  The  Hall  may,  however,  have 
been  spared  because  it  was  to  be  the  place  where  Henry  L 
held  the  Court  at  which  he  "  filled  up  so  many  bishoprics 
that  there  was  no  man  who  remembered  so  many  together 
were  ever  given  away  before." 

Stephen  is  said  to  have  been  the  founder  of  St.  Stephen's 


\Vl>TMINsrKK     I  I  ALL. 
From  11)1  fngra^ing  by  C.  Hniikins.  i8ot. 


■\ 


i 


-I 

'  a 

ii 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  2 


^D 


Chapel ;  but  the  rest  of  the  palace  seems  to  have  been  ruined 
at  this  time,  for  extensive  repairs  were  carried  out  in  the  early 
part  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  The  new  king  paid  sixty- 
seven  shillings  for  a  new  roof  for  the  palace,  which  must  have 
been  ready  for  him  before  1162,  for  in  that  year  "  the  king's 
house  at  Westminster  was  cleansed  against  his  coming  "  and 
ten  shillings  was  spent  on  "  fresh  rushes  to  strew  the  floor." 

The  coronation  feast  of  the  young  King  Henry  was  held  at 
Westminster  in  1170,  and  it  was  upon  this  occasion,  accord- 
ing to  Holinshed,  that  he  first  showed  himself  "of  an  evill 
and  perverse  nature,  puffed  up  in  pride."  Richard  I.  also 
held  his  coronation  feast  here  ;  and  King  John  seems  to  have 
come  here  to  spend  the  Christmas  of  1213,  for  Roger 
Waterman  was  instructed  to  have  a  new  bath  ready  for  the 
king's  use  by  Christmas  Eve. 

The  Palace  of  Westminster,  like  many  other  royal  houses, 
underwent  considerable  repairs  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  III.,  whose  chief  idea  of  decoration  seems  to  have 
been  to  have  everything  painted  "  green  like  a  curtain."  The 
'*  chamber  behind  the  queen's  chapel  "  was,  however,  to  be 
"  wainscotted,  and  a  frieze  made  and  well  painted  with  the 
images  of  our  Lord,  and  of  angels  with  censers."  The  four 
Evangelists  were  also  to  be  represented,  one  in  each  corner. 
These  decorations  seem  to  have  been  the  work  of  Odo  the 
Goldsmith  of  Westminster  and  Edward  his  son,  whose  name 
afterwards  appears  in  connection  with  the  mural  paintings  in 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel.  Apparently  Edward's  work  did  not 
always  satisfy  the  king,  for  in  1260,  when  the  painter  had 
half  finished  "  a  certain  picture  in  the  wardrobe  where  the 
king  was  accustomed  to  wash  his  face,  representing  the  king 
who  was  rescued  by  his  dog  from  the  seditious  barons  who 
plotted  against  him,"  Henry  suddenly  ordered  that  the  room 


26        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

should  instead  be  painted  plain  green.  There  is  no  record 
of  Edward's  feelings  about  this  matter  ;  possibly  they  were  of 
a  kind  that  could  not  easily  be  expressed,  even  in  that  out- 
spoken age. 

In  1236  Henry  III.  summoned  a  council  at  Westminster 
to  consider  the  proposed  marriage  between  the  king's  sister 
Isabel  and  the  Emperor.  The  imperial  ambassadors  before 
the  final  decision  besought  that  they  might  see  the  lady. 
The  king  sent  to  the  Tower,  where  she  lived,  and  had  her 
brought  to  Westminster,  when  the  ambassadors,  "  after  they 
had  for  some  time  delighted  themselves  with  beholding  the 
maiden,  judged  her  in  all  things  worthy  to  be  the  Emperor's 
wife,  and  presented  to  her  on  the  part  of  their  master  a 
wedding-ring."  At  the  feast  which  followed  "  there  assembled 
such  a  multitude  of  barons,  such  numbers  of  clergy,  such 
crowds  of  people,  so  many  players  that  the  city  of  London 
itself  could  scarcely  hold  them  .  .  .  and  how  shall  the 
dainties  of  the  table  be  described  ?  Whatever  the  world 
pours  forth  of  pleasure  and  splendour  was  there  displayed." 
The  pleasure  and  splendour  must,  however,  have  been  some- 
what damped  by  the  torrents  of  rain  which,  together  with  an 
unusually  high  tide,  so  swelled  the  river  that  "the  fords 
became  impassable,  the  bridges  covered  with  water,  and 
Thames,  breaking  his  accustomed  bounds,  flowed  into  West- 
minster Palace,  so  that  the  Great  Hall  must  be  crossed  in 
boats,  and  those  who  went  up  to  their  rooms  rode  on  horse- 
back." Probably  the  younger  members  of  the  royal  house- 
hold quite  enjoyed  the  excitement  of  the  flood,  but  among 
the  elders  it  can  scarcely  have  been  welcomed,  except  per- 
haps by  Edward  the  Goldsmith,  who  profited  by  it.  New 
pictures  had  to  be  made  in  the  queen's  chamber,  and  in 
other  rooms,  and  the  painter  received  in  payment  for  his 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  27 

work  ;^5  17s.  lod.,  though  he  had  to  find  his  own  oil,  varnish, 
and  colours. 

In  1238  Eleanor,  Henry  III.'s  sister,  was  privately  married 
to  Simon  de  Montfort  in  the  king's  little  chapel  at  West- 
minster by  Walter,  the  chaplain  of  St.  Stephen's. 

In  the  following  year,  according  to  tradition,  there  appeared 
over  Westminster  "  a  star  of  large  compasse,  the  which  with 
swift  course  was  carried  thro'  a  long  circuit  of  the  air, 
sometime  shewing  as  itt  had  borne  fire  with  it,  so  that  it  was 
judged  that  great  deeds,  which  were  to  be  achieved  by 
Edward  the  king's  son  (who  was  born  at  this  time),  were  by 
this  wonderful  constellation  foreshewed  and  signified." 

In  1263  "the  king's  Little  Hall  with  manie  other  houses 
thereto  adioyninge  was  consumed  with  fire,"  and  the  king 
accordingly  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  London  to  ask  for  timber 
for  the  repairs.  The  bishop,  however,  though  he  was 
"much  grieved  to  hear  of  the  fire,"  made  answer  that  "  as  to 
the  timber  ...  we  are  informed  that  your  keepers  have  so 
destroyed  our  woods  that  we  believe  there  would  be  found 
little  or  no  supply  for  the  repair  of  our  own  house.  Where- 
fore until  we  shall  have  ascertained  whether  your  said 
keepers  have  left  us  that  wherewith  we  may  help  you,  we 
dare  not  promise  aught."  Probably  Henry  did  not  repeat 
his  request  :  he  was  already  on  the  brink  of  war,  and  can 
scarcely  have  finished  the  repairs  in  the  palace  before  it  was 
attacked  by  "  a  furious  mob  of  Londoners  who  .  .  .  made 
havocke  there,  drynking  up  and  destroying  the  king's  wine. 
They  brake  the  glasse  windows,  and  defaced  the  building 
most  disorderly  uneth  (scarcely)  forbearing  to  set  the  house 
on  fire."  The  Londoners  were  afterwards  heavily  fined,  and 
their  ma3or  was  imprisoned,  for  the  support  they  had  given 
to  Simon  de  Montfort. 


28        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


King  Henry  kept  Christmas  at  Westminster  after  the  war 
was  ended ;  but  though  the  country  was  tranquil,  the  Court  was 
filled  with  disturbance  by  that  determined  wrangler  John  of 
Warenne.  His  first  quarrel  was  with  Henryde  Lacy,  and  it  grew 
so  hot  that  both  began  to  make  preparations  for  private  war  : 
they  were,  however,  at  last  induced  to  refer  their  dispute  to  the 
king's  justices,  who  decided  in  favour  of  Lacy.  Warenne's 
next  brawling-match  was  with  Alan  la  Zouche,  a  worthy  foe, 
whose  voice,  raised  in  anger,  could  be  heard  "  almost  as  far  as 
Charing,"  when  his  cause  was  being  tried  in  Westminster 
Hall.  The  decision  seemed  likely  to  be  given  in  favour  of 
la  Zouche,  but  Warenne,  unable  to  bear  the  loss  of  two  law- 
suits in  succession,  suddenly,  "  in  defiance  of  the  reverence 
due  as  well  to  the  king  and  queen  as  to  the  justices,  even  in 
their  verie  presence  and  before  the  officers  of  the  Chancery," 
attacked  his  opponent  and  murdered  him.  By  a  marvellous 
stroke  of  luck  the  murderer  found  a  boat  ready  to  cross  the 
river,  and  a  horse  upon  the  other  side  :  he  escaped  in  safety 
to  his  castle  at  Reigate.  He  afterwards  made  oath  that  he 
had  not  acted  from  malice,  but  from  sudden  uncontrollable 
anger,  and  thereupon  received  a  pardon  on  condition  that  he 
paid  a  fine  of  10,000  marks  :  the  greater  part  of  this  sum  was, 
however,  still  unpaid  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1304. 

Those  who  acted  in  defiance  of  the  reverence  due  to  the 
king's  justices  did  not  escape  so  lightly  in  the  following 
reign,  as  William  de  Braose  found  when,  judgement  having 
been  given  against  him,  he  "  contemptuously  approached  the 
bar  and  asked  Roger  de  Hengham  the  king's  justice  in  gross 
and  upbraiding  words  if  he  would  defend  that  judgement. 
The  said  William  was  therefore  arraigned  .  .  .  andcondenmed 
to  proceed  as  a  penitent,  bareheaded  and  liolding  a  torch  in  his 
hand,  from  the  King's  Bench  in  Westminster  Hall,  during  full 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  29 

court,  to  the  Exchequer  and  there  ask  pardon  of  the  said 
Roger.  And  afterwards,  for  his  contempt  of  the  king's 
court,  he  was  committed  to  the  Tower  during  pleasure." 

The  King  of  Scots  was  a  guest  at  the  coronation  festivities 
of  Edward  I :  *'  he  came  with  one  hundred  knights  mounted 
on  splendid  horses."  Knighton  tells  us  of  the  glories  of  that 
day  :  how  "  the  aqueduct  in  Chepe  poured  forth  white  wine 
and  red  like  rain-water,  for  those  who  would  to  drink  as  they 
pleased,"  and  how  the  Scottish  knights  belied  the  national 
reputation  for  economy,  by  "turning  loose  their  horses  for 
those  who  would  to  catch  and  keep."  Afterwards  came 
Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  King's  brother,  and  the  Earls 
of  Gloucester,  Pembroke,  and  Warenne,  each  with  a  body 
of  knights  wearing  their  lord's  armour  :  not  to  be  outdone 
by  the  Scots,  "  they  also  set  free  their  palfreys  that  whosoever 
w^ould  might  take  them  unquestioned."  It  is  clear  that 
Westminster  Palace  was  repaired  and  partly  redecorated  at 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  and  there  was 
painting  in  the  king's  chapel  in  1294,  but,  busy  as  he  was  in 
other  places,  Edward  can  hardly  have  had  time  to  enjoy  his 
new  pictures  at  Westminster  before  they  were  destroyed,  for  in 
March,  1298,  a  vehement  fire  was  kindled  in  the  Little  Hall : 
the  flames  reached  the  roof,  and  fanned  by  the  wind  devoured 
the  palace.  Edward,  on  his  return  to  Westminster,  was 
obliged  to  live  at  York  Place ;  and  he  found  the  Archbishop's 
palace  so  pleasant  that  he  added  two  rooms  to  it  and  used  it 
as  his  own  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Edward  II.  probably  wanted  more  sumptuous  lodgings, 
for  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  throne  the  rebuilding  of  West- 
minster Palace  was  begun,  and  the  Courts  of  King's  Bench 
and  Exchequer  were  "  ordained  to  be  held  within  the  Abbey, 
because  of  the  hindrances  and  disturbances  made  by  the 


30        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


works."  All  the  herbaries,  vineries,  and  gardens  were  turfed, 
cleansed,  and  repaired,  numerous  chambers  and  halls  altogether 
newly  built,  and  "  the  aqueducts  from  the  Thames  to  the 
kitchens  and  wardrobes  of  the  palace,^  which  were  choked  up, 
entirely  laid  open  and  amended."  The  work  of  rebuilding 
went  on  steadily  for  the  first  four  years,  and  seems  to  have 
been  continued  at  intervals  throughout  the  whole  of  the  reign. 
St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  apparently  still  unfinished  in 
1363,  for  Edward  III.  appointed  "  our  beloved  William  de 
Walsingham  to  take  so  many  painters  in  our  city  of  London  as 
may  be  sufficient  for  our  works  in  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  within 
our  Palace,  and  to  bring  them  ...  for  our  works  and  at  our 
wages,  there  to  remain  as  long  as  may  be  necessary :  and  he 
hath  authority  to  arrest  all  who  shall  prove  rebellious  or 
unsatisfactory  in  this  matter,  and  commit  them  to  prison 
until  we  shall  otherwise  have  ordered  their  punishment."  It 
is  possible  that  such  orders  as  these  partially  explain  that 
love  of  work  and  exquisite  care  in  finishing  for  which  the 
mediaeval  workman  is  famous  to-day. 

In  1317  Edward  II.  "kept  his  feast  of  Whitsuntide  in  the 
Great  Hall  at  Westminster,  when  .  .  .  there  rode  into  the 
Hall,  upon  a  horse  strangely  caparisoned,  a  woman  in  a 
fantastic  dress,  who,  after  the  custom  of  masqueraders,  made 
a  circuit  about  the  tables,  and  at  length  came  up  the  steps  to 
the  king's  table  and  laid  before  him  a  letter :  then  reining 
back  her  horse,  she  saluted  the  guests  and  departed  as  she 
had  come.  The  king  wanted  to  know  what  was  in  the  letter, 
so  he  had  it  opened,  and  these  were  its  words  : — 

"'The  Lord  King  shows  small  consideration  for  those 
knights  who  in  his  father's  time  and  his  own  have  spent  their 

^  Henry  III.  had  ordered  that  water  should  be  brought  in  pipes  to 
every  one  of  the  kitchens  and  wardrobes  at  Westminster. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  31 

substance  for  his  honour :  yet  others,  who  have  not  borne  the 
burden  of  service,  are  abundantly  enriched.'  When  this  was 
heard,  the  guests  wondered  much  at  the  boldness  of  the 
woman,  and  the  door-keepers  were  blamed  for  having  suffered 
her  to  enter :  but  they  excused  themselves  saying  '  it  is  not 
the  custom  here  to  forbid  in  any  way  the  entrance  of  mas- 
queraders.'  Men  were  sent  after  the  woman,  who  being  easily 
found  was  taken  and  cast  into  prison.  .  .  .  Afterwards  a 
certain  knight  came  and  avowed  himself  the  author  of  the 
letter,  declaring  that  he  had  consulted  naught  therein  save 
the  king's  honour.     Therefore  the  woman  was  released." 

During  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  the  lists  at  Westminster 
were  more  than  once  the  scene  of  a  trial  by  battle.  Of  these 
duels  the  most  famous  was  that  between  "John  de  Visconti 
and  Thomas  de  la  Marche,  two  foreign  knights  of  great 
distinction,  who  entreated  the  king  as  the  most  worthy  and 
honourable  prince  in  all  Christendom  to  grant  them  the  Trial 
by  Battle  in  his  presence :  therefore  he  set  them  a  day 
wherein  to  decide  their  quarrel  at  his  Palace  of  Westminster." 
The  French  knight  was  the  victor. 

Another  trial  by  battle  took  place  here  in  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.,  and  was  watched  by  the  English  with  less  pride 
but  quite  as  much  excitement.  Sir  John  Annesley  had 
accused  Thomas  Katrington  of  delivering  to  the  French  for 
money  the  castle  of  St.  Sauveur  le  Vicomte,  of  which  he  was 
governor,  and  the  crowds  of  people  that  came  to  see  the 
trial  were  thought  to  exceed  those  at  the  king's  coronation. 

"  The  king,  his  nobles  and  all  the  people  being  come 
together,  the  knight  .  .  .  entered  first  as  appellant.  .  .  . 
And  shortly  after  was  the  esquire  called  to  defend  his  cause : 
*  Thomas  Katrington,  defendant,  come  and  appear  to  save 
the  action  for  which  Sir  John  Anneslie  knight  and  appellant 


32        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

hath  pubhcly  and  by  writing  appealed  thee.'  He  being 
thrice  called  by  an  herald-at-arms,  at  the  third  call  did 
come.  ...  At  his  approaching  to  the  lists  he  alighted  from 
his  horse,  lest  according  to  the  law  of  arms  the  Constable 
should  have  challenged  the  horse  if  he  had  entered  within 
the  lists.  But  his  shifting  nothing  availed  him,  for  the 
horse  .  .  .  ran  up  and  down  by  the  rails,  now  thrusting  his 
head  over,  and  now  both  head  and  breast,  so  that  the  Earl 
of  Buckingham,  because  he  was  High  Constable  of  England, 
claimed  the  horse  afterwards,  swearing  that  he  would  have 
as  much  of  him  as  had  appeared  over  the  rails,  and  so  the 
horse  was  adjudged  unto  him.  Before  they  entered  battle 
they  took  an  oath  .  .  .  that  the  cause  in  which  they  were  to 
fight  was  true,  and  that  they  dealt  with  no  witchcraft  nor  art 
magic,  .  .  .  nor  had  about  them  any  herb  or  stone  or  other 
kind  of  experiment  with  which  magicians  use  to  triumph  over 
their  enemies.  .  .  .  They  fought  long,  till  at  length  the 
esquire  was  manfully  overthrown  by  the  knight  ...  to  the 
great  rejoicing  of  the  common  people  and  discouragement  of 
traitors."     Katrington  died  next  day,  of  shame,  it  was  said. 

In  1382  Anne  of  Bohemia  came  to  England,  and  was 
married  to  Richard  H.  in  the  chapel  ot  the  Palace  at  West- 
minster. She  was  shortly  afterwards  crowned  queen  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  "with  all  the  glory  and  honour 
that  might  be  devised.  Then  were  holden  for  the  more 
honour  of  the  marriage  jousts  ...  in  which  as  well  the 
Englishmen  as  the  new  queen's  countrymen  shewed  proof  of 
their  manhood  and  valiancy,  whereby  praise  and  com- 
mendation of  knightly  prowess  was  achieved,  not  without 
damage  of  both  parties." 

The  shows,  dances,  and  minstrelsy  at  this  coronation  were 
almost  as  magnificent  as  those  of  Richard's  own,  which  had 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTlvR  33 

taken  place  four  years  earlier,  and  which  would  have  passed 
off  as  smoothly  as  it  did  sumptuously  save  for  a  small  dispute 
as  to  the  right  of  the  king's  champion  to  ride  in  the  corona- 
tion procession.  Sir  John  Dymock  attempted  to  make  good 
his  claim  to  this  right  by  "proceeding  on  horseback  to  the 
Abbey  gates.  But  the  Lord  Marshal,  the  Lord  Seneschal 
and  the  Lord  Constable,  with  Sir  Thomas  Percy,  all  mounted 
on  their  great  horses,  went  to  the  knight  and  told  him  that  he 
should  not  have  come  so  soon,  for  that  he  should  come  when 
dinner  was  served :  wherefore  he  had  better  retire,  and  rest 
himself  until  the  proper  time."  Sir  John  submitted  to  their 
decision. 

In  1389,  on  May  3,  a  council  was  held  at  Westminster, 
at  which  Richard  II.  suddenly  announced  to  his  uncle 
Gloucester  his  intention  of  managing  his  own  affairs.  At 
Westminster  the  king  began  his  rule  by  ordering  the  palace 
to  be  repaired,  and  on  July  13  he  appointed  Geoffrey  Chaucer 
clerk  of  the  works  there  and  at  several  other  palaces  at  the 
wages  of  2s.  a  day.  But  it  is  probable  that  Westminster  had 
already  seen  its  best  days  as  a  palace.  No  king,  except 
perhaps  Edward  II.,  had  loved  it  as  much  as  Henry  III.,  and 
no  king  had  stayed  there  so  often  :  Edward  I.  had  managed 
to  do  without  it  entirely  for  the  greater  part  of  his  reign  ; 
Edward  III.,  when  he  was  in  England,  liked  to  be  at  Wood- 
stock; Richard  II.  preferred  Eltham,  and  Henry  IV. 
Havering.  Yet  the  Palace  of  Westminster  still  blazed  out 
in  all  its  glory  on  special  occasions,  to  welcome  some  foreign 
visitor,  or  to  celebrate  a  coronation  or  royal  wedding. 

Such  a  foreign  visitor  was  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  who 
came  to  Westminster  in  May,  1416,  and  was  received  with  all 
the  usual  ceremonies  and  festivities.  His  object  was  to 
arbitrate  between  England  and  France,  but  in  this  he  was 

R.P.  D 


34        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

unsuccessful,  and  the  war  did  not  come  to  an  end  even  when 
"  Queue  Kateryne  was  with  great  pompe  conveighed  into 
Westminsier  and  there  set  in  the  throne"  in  1421.  Henry 
and  Katherine  had  already  been  married  in  France,  but  the 
Londoners  were  not  to  be  done  out  of  the  splendours  of  a 
royal  wedding  even  in  Lent,  and  the  marriage  feast  was 
accordingly  held  at  Westminster.  It  consisted  almost 
entirely  of  different  kinds  of  fish,  but  the  "  sotylties," 
wonderful  creations  in  pastry  which  presumably  took  the 
place  of  the  modern  wedding  cake,  were  many  and  ingeniously 
designed  :  they  included  "  an  image  of  seynt  Kateryn  with  a 
whele  in  her  hande,  and  a  roll  in  that  other  hand  sayinge : — 

La  royne  ma  file 
In  ceste  ile 
Par  bonne  resoun 
Aves  renouD." 

There  was  also  "  a  marchpayne,  garnysshed  with  divers 
figures  of  aungellys :  among  ye  which  was  set  an  image  of 
Sent  Katheryne  holding  this  reson  : — 

II  est  escrit 
Pour  voir,  et  dit, 
Par  mariage  pur 
Cest  guerre  ne  dure." 

Westminster  was  not  again  the  scene  of  such  splendid 
festivities  until  1487,  when  Elizabeth  of  York  was  crowned. 
*'  The  queen  came  from  Greenwich  by  water  to  the  Tower, 
the  barges  of  the  City  companies  accompanying  her :  there 
was  in  especial  a  barge  called  the  Bachelors  Barge,  garnished 
and  apparelled  passing  all  other:  wherein  was  ordained  a 
great  red  dragon  spouting  flames  of  fire  into  the  Thames,  and 
many  gentlemanlike  pageants  well  and  curiously  devised  to 
do  her  Highness  sport  and  pleasure.     She  proceeded  through 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  35 

the  city  to  Westminster,  and  in  divers  places  were  ordained 
singing  children,  some  arrayed  like  angels  and  others  like 
virgins  to  sing  sweet  songs  as  her  Grace  passed  by.  On  the 
morrow  the  queen  came  forth  of  Westminster  Hall,  from  the 
which  place  to  the  pulpit  in  Westminster  Church  she  went 
upon  new  bay  cloth  :  but,  more  pity,  there  was  so  much 
people  inordinately  pressing  to  cut  the  bay  cloth  the  queen 
went  upon,  that  certain  persons  in  the  press  were  slain,  and 
the  order  of  ladies  following  the  queen  was  broken  and  dis- 
troubled." 

On  Shrove  Sunday,  1510,  the  young  King  Henry  VHI. 
"  prepared  a  goodly  banket  in  the  Parliament  Chambre  at 
Westminster  for  all  the  Ambassadors  which  were  then  here 
out  of  diverse  countries  and  relmes,"  and  there  was  after- 
wards much  of  the  dressing-up  in  which  the  king  always 
took  a  childish  delight.  He  himself  came  in  with  the  Earl 
of  Essex  *'  appareled  after  Turkey  fasshion  in  long  robes  of 
bawdkin  powdered  with  gold  "  :  they  were  followed  by  the 
Earl  of  Wiltshire  and  Lord  FitzWalter  in  two  long  gowns 
made  after  the  fashion  of  Russia,  and  by  Admiral  Howard 
and  Sir  Thomas  Parr  dressed  "  after  the  fashion  of  Prussia 
or  Spruce."  The  torchbearers  on  this  occasion  were  robed 
'*  in  crymosyn  satine  and  grene,  lyke  Moreskoes,  their  faces 
blacke." 

But  more  than  mere  "disguising"  was  needed  to  express 
the  king's  pleasure  at  the  beginning  of  the  following  year, 
when  a  prince  was  born.  To  celebrate  this  great  event  part 
of  the  palace  was  turned  into  a  theatre,  and  a  pageant  of 
forest  scenery  was  brought  in  "  drawn  as  it  were  by  two  great 
beasts,  a  lion  and  an  antelope  :  the  lion  flourished  all  over 
with  damask  gold,  the  antelope  wrought  all  over  with  silver 
damask,  his  horn  and  tushes  of  gold."     When  the  beasts 

D   2 


36       ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND. 


stood  still,  horns  sounded,  the  scenery  opened,  and  four 
knights  on  horseback  rode  forth.  They  were  met  by  the 
Earl  of  Essex  and  many  others  ready  armed,  "  and  so  the 
jousts  began  and  endured  all  that  day."  The  child  in  whose 
honour  all  these  festivities  were  held  died  a  few  weeks 
afterwards. 

Early  in  the  next  year  the  Palace  of  Westminster  was  again 
attacked  by  its  old  and  constant  enemy,  fire  :  "  since  which 
time,"  the  Elizabethan  chronicler  tells  us,  "  it  hath  not  been 
re-edified  ;  only  the  Great  Hall  with  the  offices  near  adjoining 
are  kept  in  good  repair,  and  it  serveth,  as  before  it  did,  for 
feasts  at  coronations,  arraignments  of  great  persons,  and 
keeping  of  the  courts  of  justice.  But  the  princes  have  been 
lodged  in  other  places,  as  at  Whitehall  and  St.  James's,"  and 
with  the  fire  of  1512  the  history  of  Westminster  Palace  as 
"  the  king's  house  "  came  to  an  end. 

Savoy  Palace 

The  land  upon  which  the  Savoy  Palace  was  afterwards 
built  came  into  the  king's  hands  in  1233,  when  the  property 
of  Brian  de  Lisle,  which  lay  "  without  London  wall  in  the 
way  called  the  Strand,"  reverted  to  the  Crown.  Henry  HL 
granted  it  in  1245  to  Queen  Eleanor's  uncle,  Peter  of  Savoy, 
who  lived  there  while  he  was  in  England  and  finally 
bequeathed  it  in  1268  to  the  Hospital  of  Mont  Joux.  It  was 
afterwards  bought  by  Queen  Eleanor,  who  gave  it  to  Edmund, 
Earl  of  Lancaster. 

Edmund  obtained  leave  to  "embattle  with  a  wall  his 
manor  of  the  Savoy"  from  his  brother  Edward  L  Tradi- 
tion says  that  it  was  in  his  time  that  the  Savoy  gardens 
first  became  famous;  and  that  there  was  grown  the  first 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  37 

of  the  deep  red  roses  which  Edmund  introduced  from 
Provence  and  which  afterwards  became  the  emblem  of  his 
house.  Certainly  the  Savoy  was  regarded  at  that  time  as 
**  the  fairest  place  in  all  England,  unto  which  there  is  none  in 
the  realm  to  be  compared  for  beauty." 

Henry,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  rebuilt  the  house  at  a  cost  of 
3^34,666  ^s.  4^. :  most  of  the  money  he  had  obtained  for  his 
services  in  the  French  wars,  especially  at  Bergerac.  The 
Savoy  was  subsequently  used  byKing  John  of  France,  who 
lived  there  in  captivity  from  1357  till  his  death  in  1363.  On 
his  coming  to  the  palace  he  rode  through  London,  mounted 
on  a  white  charger  with  very  rich  trappings,  and  the  Prince 
of  Wales  on  "a  little  black  hobby"  was  beside  him.  The 
streets  were  suitably  decorated  with  bows  and  arrows  and 
all  kinds  of  armour. 

Henry's  daughter  and  heir  Blanche  married  John  of 
Gaunt,  who  lived  at  the  palace  during  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Edward  HL  The  house  was  sacked  and  burnt  by  the 
mob  in  1381 ;  and  though  it  was  restored  there  is  no  evidence 
that  any  of  the  English  kings  lived  there  between  the 
accession  of  Henry  IV.  and  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII. 

Henry  VII.  "began  to  build  an  hospital  in  his  palace 
beside  Charing  Cross  according  to  a  plan  which  was  devised 
and  signed  with  his  own  hand."  The  hospital  was  dissolved 
in  1547,  and  re-established  for  a  short  time  in  1557,  but  after 
the  final  dissolution  the  building  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  much  used.  The  old  chapel  was,  however,  regularly 
used  by  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  parish  church  of  St.  Mary  le  Strand  by  the 
Protector  Somerset,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  finally  sanctioned 
the  creation  of  a  new  parish  with  the  chapel  as  its  church. 


38        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

The  living  was  in  the  gift  of  the  Crown  in  right  of  the 
Duchy  of  Lancaster,  and  before  the  householders  were 
admitted  to  the  chapel  as  their  parish  church  they  signed  a 
deed  renouncing  any  claim  to  property  therein.  According 
to  tradition,  it  was  in  this  chapel  that  the  English  Prayer 
Book  was  first  used  after  its  restoration. 

In  1661  the  palace  was  used  for  a  conference  between  some 
bishops  and  some  Presbyterian  clergy,  which  has  therefore 
been  known  as  the  Savoy  Conference,  but  the  differences 
between  the  two  parties  were  too  acute  to  admit  a  com- 
promise, and  the  settlement  of  the  ecclesiastical  question 
was  left  to  Parliament. 

Somerset  House 

Somerset  House  is  traditionally  the  first  building  in  the 
Italian  style  in  England,  for  the  Protector  is  said  to  have 
had  it  built  after  designs  by  John  of  Padua.  He  seems 
to  have  begun  to  build  early  in  1549,  but  the  building  was 
probably  not  sufficiently  advanced  for  occupation  at  the 
time  of  his  execution  in  1552.  To  obtain  a  site  for  the 
palace  the  old  church  of  St.  Mary  le  Strand  and  the  Strand 
Bridge  were  pulled  down,  together  with  the  houses  of  three 
bishops  and  an  Inn  of  Chancery.  Several  other  old  buildings, 
including  three  chapels  belonging  to  St.  Paul's  and  part  of 
the  Church  of  the  Priory  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  were 
sacrificed  to  provide  materials :  Somerset  even  threatened  to 
pull  down  the  church  of  St.  Margaret,  Westminster,  but 
"  the  standing  thereof  was  preserved  by  his  fall." 

On  the  attainder  of  the  Protector  the  palace  came  to  the 
Crown,  and  Edward  VI.,  after  spending  £goo  on  the  building, 
gave  it  to  his  sister  Elizabeth.     She  lived  there  when  she 


■4ti^^ 


1^  •^ 


-  ^ 


■y.     S 
-.1     c 


J'.    5 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  39 

came  to  Court  during  Mary's  reign,  but  she  does  not  seem  to 
have  used  it  much,  for  she  did  not  even  finish  it.  In  1558 
she  gave  the  house  to  Edward  Seymour,  Somerset's  son,  on 
condition  that  she  might  use  it  at  pleasure  as  a  supplemental 
house  for  the  accommodation  of  visitors.  The  Protector's 
widow  died  there  in  1587,  and  the  queen  then  seems  to  have 
resumed  occupation  of  the  palace  :  she  was  certainly  there 
in  the  summer  of  1588,  and  went  thence  to  St.  Paul's  to  give 
thanks  for  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

James  I.  gave  Somerset  House  to  his  queen,  Anne  of 
Denmark,  who  repaired  it  at  her  own  charges  for  the  recep- 
tion of  Christian  IV.  on  his  visit  to  England  in  1606.  The 
queen  had  water  brought  from  Hyde  Park  to  the  house  in 
pipes  and  did  much  to  improve  the  house.  The  rooms 
towards  the  river  were  built  in  her  time,  and  also  those  at 
the  western  end  of  the  palace,  which  were  designed  by  Inigo 
Jones  and  carried  out  under  his  supervision.  The  house,  at 
that  time  known  as  Denmark  House,  was  afterwards  given 
to  Henrietta  Maria. 

Nothing  was  done  to  deface  or  alter  Somerset  House 
during  the  Commonwealth,  and  it  is  supposed  to  have  been 
retained  as  a  house  for  Cromwell.  An  old  print  represents 
his  body  lying  in  state  there  in  1659,  as  the  bodies  of  James  I. 
and  Anne  of  Denmark  had  done. 

After  the  Restoration  the  house  was  again  occupied  by 
Henrietta  Maria,  who  made  considerable  alterations  and 
improvements.  She  lived  there  for  about  four  years  and 
then  retired  to  France,  where  she  died  in  1669.  A  few 
months  later  General  Monk  died  :  his  body  was  placed  in 
royal  state  in  Somerset  House,  and  his  funeral  solemnised 
with  great  pomp. 

In     1671     Katherine    of     Braganza    came     hither     from 


40        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Windsor,  and  subsequently  kept  her  Court  here  until  1692,^ 
when  she  returned  to  Portugal,  where  she  died  in  1705. 

Apparently  Somerset  House  was  not  afterwards  occupied 
by  any  members  of  the  royal  family,  but  the  state  rooms 
were  reserved  to  serve  for  occasional  ceremonies,  and  several 
people  who  held  official  positions  at  Court  or  had  sufficient 
interest  to  obtain  the  privilege  had  lodgings  there.  The 
house  was  accounted  a  royal  residence,  and  had  two  sentinels, 
a  chaplain,  housekeeper,  and  other  officers  of  the  household. 

In  April,  1775,  Parliament,  at  the  request  of  George  IIL, 
passed  a  resolution  settling  Buckingham  Palace  on  the  queen, 
in  case  she  should  survive  the  king,  in  lieu  of  Somerset  House, 
and  vesting  the  latter  palace  "in  His  Majesty,  his  heirs  and 
successors  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  and  establishing  certain 
public  offices."  Soon  afterwards  the  demolition  of  the  old 
building  was  begun,  and  in  1779  the  fagade  of  the  present 
building  in  the  Strand  was  finished  :  the  whole  was  completed 
about  1786. 

Several  members  of  the  household  of  Katherine  of 
Braganza,  including  her  doctor,  had  been  buried  in  the 
chapel  of  the  old  house :  five  of  the  tombstones,  which  were 
moved  when  the  house  was  destroyed,  are  built  into  the 
walls  of  a  passage  under  the  quadrangle  of  the  present 
building.  It  is  also  stated  that  the  columns  in  the  entrance 
hall  which  now  occupies  the  Strand  front  originally  formed 
part  of  the  screen  in  the  chapel. 

Baynard's  Castle 

Baynard's  Castle  came  into  the  hands  of  Henry  VI.  by 
the  death  and  attainder  of  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester, 

'  In  1677,  when  William  of  Orange  came  over  to  marry  Mary,  Somerset 
House  seems  to  have  been  assigned  to  him  as  a  temporary  residence. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  41 

and  was  subsequently  granted  to  Richard,  Duke  of  York. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  "  in  this  Baynardes  Castle "  that 
"  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  being  elected  by  the  Nobles 
and  Comons  in  the  Guildhall  of  London,  tooke  on  him  the 
tytle  of  the  Relme  and  Kingdom"  in  1483. 

Henry  VII.  rebuilt  the  house  in  1501,  "  not  imbatoled,  or 
so  strongly  fortified  castle-like,  but  farre  more  beautiful!  and 
commodious  for  the  entertainment  of  any  prince."  He  came 
there  several  times  during  his  reign,  and  is  said  to  have 
appointed  the  place  as  a  lodging  for  Philip,  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
during  his  involuntary  visit  to  England  in  1506. 

Baynard's  Castle  does  not  seem  to  have  been  much  used 
as  a  royal  residence,  but  it  witnessed  at  least  one  memorable 
scene.  For  it  was  there  that  in  July,  1553,  "  the  Counsell,  .  .  . 
considering  that  most  of  the  realme  was  wholy  bent  on  the 
Lady  Mary's  side,  changing  their  mind  from  Lady  Jane  lately 
proclaimed  queene,  assembled  themselves  .  .  .  sent  for  the 
Lord  Mayor,  and  then  rode  into  Chepe  to  the  Cross  there, 
where  Garter  King  at  Armes,  trumpet  being  sounded,  pro- 
claimed the  Lady  Mary  .  .  .  Queen  of  England." 

The  castle  was  given  by  Queen  Mary  to  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke. 

Havering-atte-Bower  Palace 

It  was  said  that  Havering-atte-Bower  had  been  a  royal 
palace  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  who  greatly 
enjoyed  the  quiet  of  this  country  house,  disturbed  only  in  the 
early  summer  by  the  nightingale's  song.  Even  this  inter- 
ruption of  his  pious  meditations  was,  however,  silenced 
in  answer  to  his  prayer,  and  from  that  time  forth  the 
nightingales  never  sang  within  earshot  of  the  palace. 

It  was  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor  that  the  place 


42        ROYAL   PALACES   OF    ENGLAND 

was  supposed  to  have  received  its  name.  At  the  time  of  the 
dedication  of  the  church  to  St.  John  the  Evangehst,  the 
king  had  given  a  ring  to  a  poor  pilgrim  ;  and  this  ring  was 
subsequently  returned  to  him  with  a  message  "  from  St. 
John  "  concerning  the  time  of  his  death  at  Westminster.  In 
commemoration  of  this  circumstance  the  place  where  the 
ring  had  been  given  was  ever  afterwards  called  "  Have 
ring"! 

But  notwithstanding  these  legends  Havering  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  a  royal  palace  until  after  the  death  of  the 
Confessor,  in  whose  lifetime  it  belonged  to  Harold.  There 
was  much  woodland  on  the  manor  at  this  time,  and  probably, 
if  the  hunting  was  good,  the  early  Norman  kings  spent  some 
of  their  time  there.  But  the  first  royal  visitor  of  whom 
record  has  been  found  was  Joan,  Queen  of  Scots,  sister  of 
Henry  HL,  who  died  at  Havering  early  in  March,  1237. 

In  May,  1257,  Henry  III.  lent  to  William  de  St.  Ermin 
"  his  houses  at  Havering  to  lodge  in  during  the  king's  plea- 
sure," at  the  same  time  granting  to  Richard  de  Montfichet, 
the  hereditary  keeper,  that  if  they  were  damaged  by  fire 
while  William  had  them,  neither  Richard  nor  his  heirs  should 
be  bound  to  make  restitution.  It  is  possible  that  these 
"  houses  "  already  included  "  Pirgo,"  a  smaller  palace  at  a 
little  distance,  which  was  generally  used  by  the  queens  as  a 
dower-house. 

A  survey  of  Havering  Manor  was  made  at  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  Edward  I. :  the  park  was  then  said  to  contain 
in  circuit  scarcely  one  league,  and  to  afford  pasture  for  one 
hundred  deer.  At  this  time  the  Master  of  Hornchurch 
monastery  held  lands  of  Eleanor,  the  king's  mother,  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  in  1274  she  granted  that,  instead  of  pay- 
ing rent,  he  should  find  a  chaplain  to  celebrate  daily  mass  in 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  43 


the  chapel  at  Havering,  "making  mention  in  every  mass  of 
the  soul  of  Henry  HI."  The  queen-dowager  seems  to  have 
felt  much  less  anxiety  about  her  son's  soul,  for  she  only 
stipulated  that  there  should  be  prayers  for  Edward  on 
Mondays. 

After  the  death  of  Eleanor,  Edward  I.  gave  Havering  to 
his  wife,  and  during  the  first  part  of  the  reign  of  Edward  II. 
it  was  held  by  Margaret,  the  queen-dowager.  The  place 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  entirely  free  from  the  disorders 
of  the  time,  for  in  1314  Margaret  complained  that  certain 
persons  had  entered  her  closes,  broken  her  houses  and  walls, 
felled  the  trees  growing  in  her  woods  and  gardens,  and  stolen 
the  deer  from  the  park  and  the  fish  from  the  ponds.  When 
Margaret  died,  the  manor  was  given  to  Queen  Isabella,  and 
the  king  seems  to  have  paid  a  visit  there  in  1323. 

Edward  III.  gave  the  manor  to  Queen  Philippa,  but  at  any 
rate  during  the  first  part  of  the  reign  both  seem  to  have  pre- 
ferred Woodstock  as  a  country  house.  They  did,  however, 
spend  at  least  one  Easter  (1343)  together  at  Havering,  and 
the  king  was  frequently  there  for  a  short  time.  The  palace 
was  probably  not  so  carefully  kept  then  as  afterwards,  and  in 
1351  the  palings  round  the  park  were  said  to  have  become 
quite  rotten,  and  to  be  in  instant  need  of  repair,  which  looks 
as  if  the  place  had  not  been  much  used  by  royalty  for  some 
time.  But  if  Havering  was  neglected  by  Edward  III.,  it 
probably  reached  the  height  of  its  splendour  in  the  following 
reign.  Richard  II.  was  often  there,  and  his  little  queen 
Isabel  showed  so  much  affection  for  the  place  that  when 
Henry  IV.  came  to  the  throne  he  allowed  her  to  remain  in 
possession  of  it,  saying  that  "  she  ought  neither  to  know  nor 
to  feel  the  changes  that  have  taken  place."  It  is  hard  to  see 
how  he  can  have  hoped  to  keep  the  knowledge  of  Richard's 


44        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

imprisonment  and  death  even  from  a  child  of  ten  years  old, 
considering  how  much  she  had  been  with  the  king ;  but 
probably  his  chief  aim  was  to  reassure  the  King  of  France, 
who  had  sent  "  certain  notable  and  prudent  nobles,  Sir 
Charles  de  Labrech  and  Sir  Charles  de  Hangiers,  to  inquire 
into  the  position  of  the  queen  his  daughter."  To  these 
ambassadors  Henry  gave  leave  to  see  the  little  queen 
privately  on  condition  that  they  told  her  nothing  of  King 
Richard's  fate.  "  The  young  queen  received  them  graciously 
and  sweetly,  and  asked  about  her  Lord  Father  and  Lady 
Mother,  how  they  were.  The  knights  answered  that  they 
were  very  well ;  and  they  discoursed  together  very  much  at 
their  leisure,  but  they  kept  well  to  what  they  had  promised, 
for  they  never  opened  their  lips  to  speak  of  King  Richard, 
and  when  they  had  done  what  they  came  for,  they  took  their 
leave  of  the  queen  and  .  .  .  came  to  Eltham,  where  they 
dined  with  the  king,  who  caused  fine  jewels  to  be  given 
them,  and  then  they  took  their  leave,  quite  friendly." 

After  Isabel's  return  to  France  King  Henry  gave  Havering 
to  his  second  wife,  Joan,  who  remained  in  possession  of  it  till 
1419.  But  in  that  year,  "  upon  information  given  by  con- 
fession of  Friar  John  Randolf  that  Johanne  queen  of 
England  had  compassed  the  death  of  the  king  in  the  most 
high  and  horrible  manner  that  could  be  devised,  it  was 
ordered  that  all  goods  and  chattels  of  the  said  queen,  and 
also  all  rents  of  castles  and  manors  which  the  queen  held  in 
dower  or  otherwise,  should  be  received  and  kept  by  the 
Treasurer  of  England."  The  cause  of  Henry  V.'s  quarrel 
with  Joan  is  not  very  clear,  for  she  seems  to  have  been  a  kind 
stepmother.  Yet  she  was  condemned  to  forfeiture  and 
imprisonment  upon  very  scanty  evidence,  and  apparently 
without  a  formal  trial.     But  it  was  not  until  he  was  dying 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  45 

that  Henry  seems  to  have  felt  any  misgivings  about  his  con- 
duct:  he  then  determined,  "  lest  it  should  be  a  charge  upon 
our  conscience  to  occupy  longer  the  said  dower  in  this  wise 
.  .  .  to  make  deliverance  to  our  said  mother  the  queen 
wholly  of  her  dower,  and  suffer  her  to  receive  it  as  she  did 
before."  He  also  gave  orders  that  her  beds  and  other 
furniture  should  be  restored  to  her,  and  that  she  should  have 
five  or  six  new  gowns  "  of  such  cloth  and  colour  as  she  may 
herself  devise." 

The  restoration  of  Joan's  lands  was  not,  however,  an  easy 
matter,  as  they  had  mostly  been  sold  ;  a  circumstance  which 
suggests  that  Henry  the  Fifth's  need  for  money  may  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  accusation  of  witchcraft.  In  1424 
Parliament  agreed  that  all  grants  made  by  the  late  king  out 
of  Joan's  dower  should  be  quashed  "  provided  that  those  who 
had  laid  out  money  upon  the  queen's  lands  might  have  the 
choice  of  taking  the  same  under  her,"  and  she  came  into  her 
own  again.  She  died  at  Havering  in  June,  1437,  but  the 
suspicion  of  witchcraft  still  stained  her  memory,  and  many 
years  afterwards  it  was  whispered  that  her  uneasy  ghost 
might  be  seen  at  nightfall  gliding  along  the  passages  of  her 
favourite  palace  or  wandering  about  the  park. 

Possibly  it  was  for  this  reason  that  Havering  was  so  little 
used  after  her  death.  At  one  time  Henr^'  VIII.  may  have 
thought  of  living  in  the  palace,  for  he  took  a  lease  of  the 
estate  and  the  rights  of  herbage  and  pannage  belonging  to 
the  hereditary  keepership,  which  was  then  in  the  possession 
of  the  Earl  of  Oxford.  But  upon  the  whole  Havering  was 
neglected  by  the  royal  family,  and  in  the  reign  of  James  I. 
it  was  let  upon  long  lease  to  Edward,  Earl  of  Oxford.  In 
1649  the  Countess  of  Oxford  still  held  Havering  Park, 
"  reserving  to  the  king  the  right  to  have  sufficient  pasture 


46        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

for  1,200  deer  and  hay  for  wintering  them,"  but  the  houses 
and  lodges  at  that  time  were  described  as  ruinous  and  were 
valued  only  at  the  worth  of  the  materials.  The  land  was 
divided,  Pirgo  being  separated  from  the  larger  estate,  and 
the  palace  was  never  rebuilt. 

Kempton  Park 

Kempton  belonged  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Mortain,  at  the  time 
of  the  Domesday  Survey  :  there  were  then  "  eight  acres  of 
vineyard  planted  with  the  usual  number  of  vines  "  attached 
to  the  manor.  In  1104  the  estate  escheated  to  the  Crown, 
and  the  manor-house  became  a  royal  palace. 

In  1231  King  Henry  III.  kept  his  Christmas  at  Kempton 
at  the  charges  of  Hubert  de  Burgh,  and  he  held  the  Parlia- 
ments of  1232  and  1234  there.  The  place  seems  to  have 
suffered  a  good  deal  during  the  civil  wars,  for  it  was  exten- 
sively repaired  in  the  early  part  of 'Edward  I.'s  reign.  In 
1276  the  king  ordered  Luke  his  merchant  to  cause  Geoffrey 
Pykeford  to  have  ;^ioo  for  the  completion  of  the  works. 
Luke,  however,  "  lost  the  writ,  and  did  nothing  therein,"  and 
the  unfortunate  clerk  of  the  works  seems  to  have  been  in  an 
awkward  position  until  the  merchant  "came  before  the 
Chancellor  and  made  his  confession."  The  works  were 
probably  finished  in  the  same  year,  and  the  park  was 
stocked  with  one  hundred  live  does  which  had  been  brought 
from  Odiham. 

The  palace  at  Kempton  suffered  a  good  deal  during  the 
reign  of  Edward  II. :  a  survey  of  the  manor  was  taken  in 
1332,  when  it  was  found  that  almost  every  part  of  the 
building  was  faUing  into  ruin.  The  chimney  of  the  chamber 
at  the  west  end  of  the  hall  was  likely  to  fall  down  unless  it 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  47 

could  soon  be  repaired  ;  the  dresser  in  the  great  kitchen  was 
broken,  and  the  larder  door  needed  bolts  and  staples.  The 
building  could  not  be  repaired  without  great  expense,  but  the 
jurors  declared  that  they  were  wholly  ignorant  by  whose 
neglect  the  dilapidations  had  occurred. 

Both  Edward  III.  and  Richard  II.  visited  Kempton  fre- 
quently, but  Henry  IV.  seems  to  have  come  there  only  once, 
in  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  and  though  Henry  VI.  stayed 
there  in  June,  1437,  and  again  in  May,  1439,  the  palace  was 
apparently  little  used  after  this  time  by  the  kings  of  England. 
Edward  IV.  annexed  it  to  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall  in  1472, 
and  it  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Crown  till  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.,  when  it  is  said  to  have  been  pulled  down 
to  supply  material  for  the  completion  of  Whitehall  after 
Wolsey's  disgrace.  The  manor  was  subsequcntl)'  given  by 
Queen  Mary  to  Anne,  widow  of  the  Protector  Somerset,  for 
her  life.  In  1594  it  was  demised  to  William  Killigrew  and 
his  heirs  for  eighty  years,  and  Sir  Robert  Killigrew  finally 
obtained  a  grant  in  fee  of  the  estate  in  1631. 

In  1800  there  were  traces  of  ancient  buildings  to  be  found 
in  Kempton  Park  :  these  were  supposed  to  be  the  remains  of 
a  religious  house,  and  the  very  existence  of  a  palace  at 
Kempton  had  been  so  far  forgotten  that  it  was  popularly 
thought  that  the  king's  house  mentioned  in  old  docu- 
ments had  been  situated  at  Kennington,  near  Lambeth,  a 
manor  which  also  formed  part  of  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall. 
This  manor  of  Kennington  belonged  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century  to  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Roger  dAmorie  : 
in  1337  she  gave  it  in  exchange  for  other  land  to  King 
Edward  III.,  who  granted  it  to  the  Black  Prince.  It  has 
ever  since  then  been  the  property  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 


48        ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

Eltham  Palace 

Eltham  is  first  mentioned  in  connection  with  royalty  in 
1269,  when  Henry  III.  is  said  to  have  kept  his  Christmas 
there.  He  must,  however,  have  been  staying  there  as  a  visitor 
only,  for  the  place  did  not  belong  to  the  Crown  till  many  years 
later.  Anthony  Bek,  Bishop  of  Durham,  was  the  owner  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  who  stayed  frequently  at  Eltham 
after  1297,  and  probably  prevailed  on  the  bishop  to  leave  it 
to  the  Crown.  At  any  rate  in  1305  Bek  granted  the  manor 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales  :  he  received  in  return  a  grant  of  his 
capital  messuage  with  the  garden  for  life,  and  died  at  Eltham  in 
1311.  The  garden  was  then  said  to  be  worth  nothing  except 
for  supplying  the  house,  but  the  adjoining  park  was  probably 
a  great  attraction,  and  after  the  accession  of  Edward  II. 
Eltham  was  constantly  used  as  a  residence  by  the  kings  of 
England.  The  king's  second  son,  John,  was  born  there  in  1316. 
In  October,  1347,  Edward  III.  came  to  Eltham  on  his 
return  from  France,  with  the  Black  Prince,  and  a  splendid 
tournament  was  held  there  to  celebrate  their  victories.  It 
was  at  this  time,  and  according  to  tradition  at  Eltham,  that 
the  Order  of  the  Garter  was  established. 

In  1363  "  tidings  came  to  the  King  of  England  and  to  the 
queen,  who  were  then  at  Eltham,  seven  leagues  from  London, 
that  the  French  king  was  come  aland  at  Dover  in  the 
stead  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou  (a  hostage  who  had  returned  to 
France).  Then  he  sent  thither  divers  knights  of  his  house 
who  made  great  cheer  and  honour  to  the  French  king  till 
he  came  to  Eltham  where  the  King  of  England  was  with  a 
great  number  of  lords  ready  to  receive  him.  His  coming 
thither  was  on  a  Sunday  after  dinner,  and  between  that  and 
supper  time  there  was  great  dancing  and  caroling." 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  49 

Another  foreign  prince  who  visited  Eltham  was  Leo,  King 
of  Armenia.  "  He  was,  as  he  affirmed,  chased  out  of  his 
kingdom  by  the  Tartarians,  and  came  hither  while  the  king 
kept  Christmas  at  Eltham  in  1386  under  pretence  to  reform 
peace  betwixt  the  Kings  of  England  and  France,"  but,  as  the 
chronicler  resentfully  points  out,  "  what  his  coming  profited 
he  only  understood." 

The  same  remark  might  have  been  made  with  reference  to  the 
next  distinguished  foreigner  who  came  to  Eltham.  This  was 
the  Emperor  Sigismund,  who  was  lodged  at  the  palace  during 
his  visit  to  Henry  V.  in  1416,  on  which  occasion  ;^200  was 
allowed  to  Sir  John  Rothernale  for  the  expenses  of  the 
Emperor's  household. 

During  the  later  part  of  the  fourteenth  century  Parliament 
was  occasionally  held  at  Eltham.  In  1376  Edward  III., 
being  then  ill  and  unable  to  travel,  summoned  the  members 
to  meet  him  at  Eltham,  and  there  Richard  II.  held  the 
Parliament  in  which  the  question  of  his  marriage  to  Isabel 
de  Valois  was  considered.  Richard  seems  to  have  been  very 
fond  of  the  place,  and  spent  much  time  there,  especially 
during  the  lifetime  of  his  first  queen,  Anne  of  Bohemia. 

Henry  IV.  made  arrangements  to  keep  Christmas  at  the 
palace  in  1403,  but  he  is  said  to  have  left  the  place  suddenly 
in  consequence  of  his  discovery  that  a  plot  had  been  formed 
to  break  into  the  house  by  night  and  murder  him. 

Henry  V.  stayed  one  night  at  Eltham  on  his  way  to 
London  just  after  his  triumphant  return  from  Agincourt.  It 
seems  to  have  been  in  his  time,  or  in  that  of  his  father,  that  a 
library  was  added  to  Eltham,  for  at  his  death  John  Burnham, 
his  librarian,  "  delivered  all  the  books  in  his  custody  into  the 
hands  of  John  Depedene  by  the  king's  command."  These 
books  appear  to   have   been    mostly   works   of  devotion  or 

R.P.  E 


50        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

history :  chief  among  them  were  the  Bible,  the  "  Holy 
Trinity,"  *'  Froissart,"  "  La  Forteresse  de  Foy,"  and  the 
writings  of  Josephus  and  Livy. 

Edward  IV.  built  the  great  hall :  the  work,  which  was  **in 
the  charge  of  James  Hatefelde,"  seems  to  have  been  begun  in 
1479,  and  was  certainly  finished  by  1482,  for  in  that  year  the 
king  kept  his  Christmas  there  with  great  magnificence,  and  is 
said  to  have  entertained  as  many  as  two  thousand  people. 
Henry  VH.,  we  are  told,  "  set  up  the  fair  front  over  the 
moat,"  and  Henry  VHI.  spent  a  good  deal  on  building  and 
alterations  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign.  The  brick  wall 
round  the  orchard  was  finished  by  his  orders  in  1517,  and  at 
the  same  time  **  a  new  tilt  "  was  made. 

The  king  kept  his  Christmas  at  Eltham  that  year,  and  on 
Christmas  Eve  after  vespers  Cardinal  Wolsey  took  the  oath 
and  office  of  Lord  Chancellor  in  place  of  Archbishop  Warham, 
who  had  resigned.  When  Twelfth  Night  came,  a  great 
entertainment  was  given  in  the  hall.  A  wooden  castle 
having  been  wondrously  set  out,  Master  William  Cornish  and 
the  children  of  the  chapel  performed  **  the  story  of  Troilus 
and  Pandor  richly  apparelled,  also  .  .  .  Cressid  apparelled 
like  a  widow  of  honour  in  black  sarsenet,  .  .  .  and  Diomed 
and  the  Greeks  apparelled  like  men  of  war." 

Henry  VHL  has  been  accused  of  neglecting  Eltham,  the 
home  of  his  carefully-educated  childhood,  where  he  had  been 
visited  in  1500  by  the  great  scholar  Erasmus  and  his  friend 
More ;  but  during  the  first  half  of  his  reign  there  were 
certainly  no  grounds  for  this  accusation.  As  late  as  1532  he 
had  a  new  bowling  alley  made  in  the  garden,  and  there  he 
spent  the  greater  part  of  June  in  the  same  year.  He  kept 
Christmas  at  Eltham  again  in  1535,  but  after  that  date  his 
visits  became  less  frequent,  and  in  155 1  the  'house  was  so 


^ 


i 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  51 

much  ruined  that  it  was  necessary  to  spend  ;r400  on  repairs. 
Queen  Mary  visited  Eltham  once  only,  in  1555,  and  Queen 
Elizabeth  came  there  in  August,  1559,  to  meet  the  Earl  of 
Arran,  who  had  been  proposed  as  a  suitable  consort.  By 
1594  the  place  was  again  in  ruins,  and  could  not,  it  was  said, 
be  repaired  for  less  than  £1,1^3  14s.  The  rebuilding  seems  to 
have  been  carried  out,  for  James  I.  stayed  there  during  May 
and  June,  1612. 

When  the  King  of  Denmark  came  to  England,  he  was 
taken  to  Eltham  for  the  hunting  in  the  park,  but  he  seems  to 
have  been  lodged  at  Greenwich,  and  from  this  time  the  older 
palace  seems,  except  for  a  short  visit  of  Charles  I.  in  1629,  to 
have  been  abandoned  by  royalty.  In  1649  it  was  much  out 
of  repair  and  quite  untenantable,  and  Evelyn,  who  visited  it 
in  1656,  declared  that  it  was  in  miserable  ruins,  and  that  even 
the  wood  and  park  had  been  destroyed.  Sir  John  Shaw,  to 
whom  it  was  given  by  Charles  II.,  when  he  demolished  the 
buildings,  spared  the  great  hall  to  be  used  as  a  barn,  and 
this,  the  last  relic  of  the  ancient  palace,  was  saved  and 
repaired  by  order  of  the  Government  in  1828. 

Greenwich  Palace 

Greenwich  first  came  to  the  Crown  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.,  who  was  the  owner  of  the  manor,  and  apparently 
had  a  house  there,  for  his  will  is  dated  "at  my  Manour  of 
Grenewich  the  22nd  day  of  the  month  of  Januery  the  yeare 
of  ovr  Lord  1408."  The  estate  afterwards  belonged  to 
Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  who  lent  his  house  to  his 
nephew  Henry  VI.  and  Margaret  of  Anjou  for  their  honey- 
moon. This  house  is  said  to  have  had  long  narrow  windows 
with  trefoil  heads,  but  all  trace  of  the  walls  of  that  date  has 
long  disappeared. 

E   2 


52        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

In  1433  Humphrey  had  leave  from  the  king  to  enclose  two 
hundred  acres  of  land,  part  of  which  had  belonged  to  Shene 
Priory,  and  to  rebuild  a  certain  tower  which  stood  where  the 
Observatory  now  stands.  This  tower  was  supposed  to  mark 
the  site  of  the  earliest  royal  palace  at  Greenwich — a  palace 
purely  romantic,  for  it  was  the  Castle  of  Miraflores,  where 
Oriane,  daughter  of  the  English  king  and  beloved  of  Amadis 
of  Gaul,  took  refuge  when  the  Emperor  sent  ambassadors  to 
ask  her  hand  in  marriage." 

In  1455  an  assembly  of  notables  met  at  Greenwich,  before 
whom  the  Duke  of  Somerset  declared  that  his  imprisonment 
in  the  Tower,  during  the  time  of  York's  protectorate,  was 
unjust ;  and  the  king  stated  in  reply  that  the  duke  had  done 
him  right  true,  good  and  pleasant  service,  and  was  his  true  and 
faithful  liegeman. 

In  1480  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  then  on  a  visit  to 
England,  seems  to  have  spent  part  of  her  time  at  Greenwich  : 
it  is  at  any  rate  certain  that  rooms  in  the  palace  were  fitted 
up  for  her  use.  The  walls  were  hung  with  tapestry  worked 
with  the  story  of  Helen  of  Troy,  and  curtains  striped  red  and 
blue  with  counterpanes  of  wool  worked  with  "ymagery" 
were  made  for  the  beds,  which  must  have  been  enormous,  for 
one  of  the  counterpanes  contained  thirty  yards  of  material. 

But  it  was  with  the  coming  of  the  Tudors  that  Greenwich 
became  the  most  favoured  palace.  From  the  very  beginning 
of  his  reign  Henry  VII.  showed  his  preference  for  the  place, 
for  he  kept  both  the  feasts  of  All  Hallows  and  Christmas 
there  in  i486.  Elizabeth  of  York  journeyed  thence  to  the 
Tower  a  few  days  before  her  coronation,  but  she  returned  the 
day  after  the  ceremony.  The  king  kept  Christmas  at 
Greenwich  the  same  year,  and  held  the  usual  feast  in  the 
great  hall,  but  the  queen  dined  with  her   mother.      They 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  53 


remained  there  during  the  week  after  Christmas :  on  New 
Year's  Day  the  king  gave  largesse,  and  at  night  "  there  was 
goodly  disguising." 

On  June  28,  1491,  Henry  VIII.  was  born  at  Greenwich, 
and  elaborate  preparations  were  made  for  his  christening, 
which  took  place  in  the  Observants'  Church.  A  silver  font, 
"  the  bottom  well  padded  with  soft  linen,"  was  brought  from 
Canterbury  ;  the  church  was  hung  with  rich  arras  and  cloth 
of  gold,  and  the  chancel  well  carpeted.  The  little  prince 
was  wrapped  in  "  a  mantle  of  cloth  of  gold,  furred  with 
ermine,"  and  escorted  to  church  by  two  hundred  men 
with  torches. 

Eighteen  years  later  the  young  King  Henry  married  his 
brother's  widow,  Katherine  of  Aragon,  in  Greenwich  Chapel, 
and  in  February,  1516,  their  daughter  Mary  was  born  in  the 
palace. 

On  May  3,  1516,  Margaret  Queen  of  Scots  came  to 
Greenwich,  where  "she  was  received  with  great  joy  by  the 
king  her  brother,  the  queen,  and  the  French  queen  her 
sister.  On  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  were  jousts  in 
which  the  king,  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  the  Earl  of  Essex  and 
Nicholas  Carew  took  on  them  to  answer  all  comers.  They 
and  their  horses  were  apparelled  in  black  velvet,  covered 
with  branches  of  honeysuckle  of  fine  fiat  gold  of  damask, 
very  cunning  and  sumptuous  embroidery  of  loose  work,  every 
leaf  on  the  branch  moving."  The  knights  who  came  to 
oppose  them  were  dressed  in  blue  velvet  and  cloth  of  gold ; 
which  scarcely  seems  suitable  clothing  for  combatants  at  that 
time  of  year,  for  it  must  have  been  both  heavy  and  hot.  In 
1518  Cardinal  Campeggio  came  to  Greenwich  by  water  in 
great  state,  and  he  was  followed,  not  long  afterwards,  by 
two  more  distinguished  foreigners,  the   Admiral  of  France 


54       ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

and  the  Bishop  of  Paris,  who  came  to  make  proposals  for  the 
marriage  to  the  Lady  Mary  to  the  Dauphin. 

Possibly  it  was  in  preparation  for  the  festivities  of  their 
visit  that  so  many  repairs  and  alterations  were  carried 
out  in  the  palace  at  this  time,  for  ;^200  was  spent  on  the 
house  itself,  and  ^^300  on  the  tilt  yard  and  bridge.  In  1520 
the  chapel  was  finished,  and  forty-one  books  were  specially 
bound  for  it.  There  was  great  disguising  at  Greenwich  in 
honour  of  the  French  visitors,  and  a  play  of  Plautus  was  per- 
formed. All  this  gaiety  seems  to  have  turned  the  heads  of 
some  of  the  younger  courtiers,  for  several  of  the  king's 
minions  were  turned  away  for  excessive  levity,  and  their 
places  were  taken  by  staid  knights. 

In  1522  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  came  over  to  England. 
King  Henry  met  him  on  Dover  sands  and  brought  him  to 
Greenwich  by  water  from  Gravesend,  past  a  long  line  of 
English  ships,  which  fired  salutes  as  the  king  passed. 
Katherine  and  her  daughter,  whom  it  was  then  proposed 
that  Charles  should  marry,  met  the  Emperor  at  the  door  of 
the  palace. 

The  marriage  did  not,  however,  take  place ;  and  in  1527 
the  Lady  Mary,  then  aged  eleven,  received  a  second  proposal 
of  marriage  from  France.  She  was  brought  in  to  see  the 
ambassadors  and  spoke  with  them  in  French,  Latin,  and 
Italian  ;  afterwards  she  delighted  them  with  her  playing  on 
the  spinet.  Such  an  accomplished  princess  could  not  be  had 
for  nothing,  and  Henry  demanded  in  exchange  for  her 
50,000  crowns  down  and  15,000  a  year.  The  King  of 
France  seemed  inclined  to  think  the  price  exorbitant,  and  it 
was  thought  necessary  to  give  the  ambassadors  a  hint  that 
Henry  would  not  take  less,  in  the  pageant  that  was  prepared 
for  their  entertainment.     Two  men,  very  richly  apparelled. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  55 


disputed  whether  love  or  money  is  better  :  knights  came  in 
and  fought  about  the  matter  ;  yet  still  it  remained  undecided, 
until  an  old  man  with  a  long  white  beard  entered  and  settled 
the  question  by  declaring  that  both  were  necessary  for  princes. 
This  pageant  was  introducedjby  Mercury,  who  made  a  Latin 
speech  expressing  the  joy  of  all  the  people  in  the  realm  at 
the  alliance  with  France.  In  spite  of  his  warm  welcome, 
however,  the  French  ambassadors  seem  to  have  felt  by  no 
means  certain  of  a  friendly  reception,  for  Dodieu  says  he  was 
afraid  to  go  out  on  May  Day,  because  the  Londoners  who 
went  to  seek  the  may  bore  arms,  and  might  have  attacked  a 
foreigner. 

The  Christmas  of  1530  was  kept  by  the  king  and  queen 
at  Greenwich  with  much  outward  splendour  and  cordiality, 
though  both  must  have  found  it  difficult  to  preserve  the 
smiling  and  contented  demeanour  suitable  at  that  season. 
The  expenses  of  the  Court  seem  to  have  been  greater  than 
ever,  for  both  cloth  of  gold  and  velvet  were  used  lavishly, 
though  one  cost  forty  shillings  a  yard  and  the  other  thirteen 
shillings ;  while  the  velvet,  at  any  rate,  could  not  have  lasted 
long  if  it  was  often  worn  "  when  the  king  and  his  lords 
threw  snowballs."  It  was  not,  however,  only  on  such  costly 
folly  that  Henry  VIII.  spent  his  private  money,  for  like  his 
father  he  loved  music  and  would  give  much  to  procure  good 
minstrels.  He  kept  a  band  of  seven  musicians,  the  best  that 
could  be  found,  to  play  to  him  after  dinner,  which  usually 
began  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  again  in  the 
evening.  He  seems,  moreover,  to  have  played  well  himself, 
and  had  even  tried  his  skill  at  composing. 

On  January  3,  1540,  Anne  of  Cleves  came  to  Greenwich, 
riding  down  Shooter's  Hill  along  a  broad  way  which  had  just 
been  made  by  cutting  down  the  bushes  and  fir  trees ;  the 


56       ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

king  went  to  meet  her,  and  they  rode  side  by  side  to  the 
palace.  Anne  wore  a  cap  adorned  with  pearls  and  a  neck- 
lace that  "  glystered  all  the  felde,"  but  her  future  husband, 
whose  purple  velvet  doublet  was  embroidered  with  gold  and 
fastened  with  diamonds,  rubies,  and  pearls,  outshone  her  in 
jewelled  splendour.  Three  days  later  they  were  married : 
the  wedding-ring  was  engraved  with  the  posy  "  God  send  me 
wel  to  kepe  " — a  very  natural  prayer  for  one  who  was  entering 
into  matrimony  with  Henry  VIII. 

A  council  met  at  Greenwich  at  the  end  of  May,  1545,  to 
consider  seriously  the  most  effectual  way  of  destroying  the 
power  of  David  Beaton,  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews, 
the  leader  of  those  who  opposed  the  Anglo-Scottish  alliance 
which  Henry  was  trying  to  bind  round  the  edge  of  the  sword." 
Sir  Ralph  Sadler,  ambassador  to  the  Court  of  James  V.,  had 
brought  an  offer  from  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  to  murder  Beaton, 
and  it  was  for  the  consideration  of  this  offer  that  **  the  king's 
most  honourable  Privy  Council "  had  been  summoned.  It 
was  finally  agreed  that  the  best  course  was  for  Sadler  to  say 
that  he  had  not  thought  proper  to  communicate  the  offer  to 
the  king,  but  that  if  "  this  good  service  "  was  done,  it  would 
be  "  acceptable  to  England  and  beneficial  to  Scotland." 

In  May,  1551,  Edward  VI.  held  "  a  great  triumph  at  Green- 
wich, when  he  and  sixteen  gentlemen  of  his  chamber  were 
matched  against  seventeen  others  at  tilting  at  the  ring  and 
other  sports  "  :  the  triumph  was  not,  however,  for  the  king's 
side,  which  suffered  a  great  defeat.  Edward  came  to  the 
palace  again  in  the  winter,  and  kept  his  Christmas  there 
with  open  house  ;  on  which  occasion  the  Lord  of  Misrule, 
George  Ferrers,  gave  great  satisfaction  to  all  by  the  endless 
variety  of  the  shows  and  interludes  which  he  invented. 

In  May,  1553,   news  came  to  Greenwich  that  Sir  Hugh 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  57 

Willoughby  and  Richard  Chancellor  were  ready  to  put  to 
sea  for  their  expedition  in  search  of  the  North-East  Passage, 
and  had  departed  from  Ratchffe  upon  the  ebb.  "  And 
presently  upon  the  news  thereof  the  courtiers  came  running 
out,  and  the  common  people  flocked  together,  standing  very 
thick  upon  the  shore ;  the  Privy  Council,  they  looked  out  at 
the  windows  of  the  court,  and  the  rest  ran  by  to  the  tops  of 
the  towers ;  the  ships  hereupon  discharged  their  ordnance 
and  shot  off  their  pieces  after  the  manner  of  war  and  of  the 
sea,  insomuch  that  the  tops  of  the  hills  sounded  therewith, 
the  valleys  and  the  waters  gave  an  echo,  and  the  mariners, 
they  shouted  in  such  sort  that  the  sky  rang  again  ...  It 
was  a  very  triumph  to  the  beholders."  Chancellor  returned 
in  1554  and  gave  an  account  of  the  state  of  Muscovy  to 
Queen  Mary,  together  with  letters  from  the  Czar  Ivan  IV., 
offering  to  English  merchants  "  their  free  mart  with  all 
liberties  through  my  whole  dominions  to  come  and  go  at 
their  pleasure." 

On  June  11,  1553,  a  council,  to  which  Chief  Justice 
Montague  and  the  Solicitor-General  were  called,  was  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  Greenwich  to  confer  about  the  succession. 
They  declared  that  the  will  of  Henry  VIII.  must  not  be  set 
aside,  but  the  king  answered  that  Parliament  should  ratify 
the  articles  he  had  prepared,  and  at  last  the  unwilling 
consent  of  the  judges  and  the  council  to  the  succession  of 
Lady  Jane  Grey  was  obtained. 

Mary  spent  part  of  her  short  reign  at  Greenwich.  The 
palace  at  that  time  was  a  long  two-storeyed  building  with 
square  mullioned  windows  and  little  towers.  A  square 
tower  in  the  centre  of  the  house  jutted  out  across  the 
terrace  and  reached  the  river.  The  palace  grounds  were 
not  so  large  as  those  of  the   hospital  later,  for  part  of  the 


58        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

land  was  taken  up  by  the  chapel  and  garden  of  the  Friars 
Observants. 

Elizabeth  came  to  Greenwich  in  the  first  year  of  her 
reign,  and  on  July  lo,  1559,  a  sort  of  flower  show  was 
held  in  Greenwich  Park  in  her  honour.  For  this  purpose 
a  large  banqueting  house  was  built,  and  decorated  with 
birch  branches  and  flowers,  "  roses,  julyflowers,  lavender, 
marigolds  and  all  manner  of  strewing  herbs  and  rushes "; 
the  walls  were  hung  with  garlands,  and  fine  plants  in  pots 
were  set  in  the  windows.  In  the  evening  a  tournament 
was  held,  and  at  five  o'clock  "  the  queen  came  and  stood 
over  the  park-gate  "  to  see  it :  afterwards  she  rode  to  the 
banqueting  house,  and  when  she  had  had  supper  a  masque 
was  performed,  and  there  were  fireworks. 

The  queen  was  again  at  Greenwich  in  February,  1568, 
and  there  presided  over  a  council  which  she  had  summoned 
to  consider  the  serious  question  of  the  prevalent  extrava- 
gance in  dress,  with  particular  reference  to  gentlemen's 
trunk-hose.  It  was  accordingly  determined  that  no  one 
under  the  rank  of  a  baron  should  be  allowed  to  stiffen  his 
breeches  with  "  more  than  two  linings  ...  or  adorn  them 
with  any  embroidery  or  fringe  .  .  .  neither  should  the 
upper  stocks  of  his  hose  exceed  one  yard  and  one  eighth." 
Elizabeth's  anxiety  to  prevent  her  subjects  from  falling  into 
her  own  besetting  sin  was  perhaps  inherited  from  her  father, 
who  had  made  decrees  against  gaming,  though,  as  he  care- 
fully pointed  out  to  the  French  ambassadors  in  1527,  he 
had  often  lost  15,000  crowns  at  play. 

On  his  return  from  his  voyage  round  the  world  in  1585, 
Drake,  going  to  his  anchorage  at  Deptford,  fired  a  salute 
to  the  queen  as  he  passed  Greenwich.  When  Elizabeth 
afterwards    went    on    board    the   Golden    Hind,   a    plank 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  59 

bridge  was  built  from  the  shore  to  reach  the  ship,  and  so 
great  was  the  crowd  eager  to  see  the  new-made  knight  that 
the  bridge  gave  way.  It  is  said  that  more  than  a  hundred 
people  fell  into  the  water,  but  none  were  drowned. 

King  James  I.  stayed  at  Greenwich  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
first  year  of  his  reign  in  England,  and  he  was  there  again  in 
1606  to  hold  a  great  joust ;  on  which  occasion  it  was  ordered 
that  his  effects  should  be  conveyed  to  Greenwich  by  road  in 
two  hundred  carts  and  by  water  in  the  Lord  Mayor's  barge. 
The  City  authorities,  however,  respectfully  submitted  that 
the  Lord  Mayor's  barge  was  not  intended  for  baggage.  The 
queen,  Anne  of  Denmark,  was  very  fond  of  Greenwich,  and 
often  went  there,  even  when  the  king  could  not  go  with  her: 
the  palace  and  park  were  ultimately  settled  on  her  "  for  one 
hundred  yeares,  if  she  live  so  long,"  and  in  her  time  was 
begun  the  building  of  the  Queen's  House,  which  was  after- 
wards finished  by  Inigo  Jones  for  Henrietta  Maria. 

Charles  I.  was  often  at  Greenwich  during  the  early  part  of 
his  reign,  but  the  palace  was  afterwards  allowed  to  fall  into 
decay.  In  1651  it  was  hastily  fitted  up  for  the  reception  of 
the  Dutch  ambassadors,  who  came  to  complain  of  the 
Navigation  Act ;  and  during  the  war  which  followed  it  was 
used  as  a  lodging  for  prisoners. 

In  1662  the  old  house  at  Greenwich  was  pulled  down,  but 
the  Queen's  House,  through  v/hich  the  high  road  passed 
from  east  to  west,  was  left  standing.  The  grounds  were  then 
laid  out  by  Sir  William  Boreman  in  accordance  with  the 
designs  of  the  famous  French  gardener  Le  Notre. 

James  II.  spent  a  great  deal  of  his  time  at  Greenwich 
while  he  was  Duke  of  York,  but  this  was  probably  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  Navy  Office  was  established  there,  and  not 
to  any  feeling  of  affection  for  the  place  itself,  for  he  does  not 


6o        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

seem  to  have  visited  it  at  all  after  he  became  king,  except 
when  he  passed  the  palace  in  his  flight  from  England. 
During  the  war  which  followed,  and  especially  after  the 
battle  of  La  Hogue,  so  many  wounded  men  were  brought 
home  that  attention  was  called  to  the  small  amount  of 
hospital  accommodation,  and  Queen  Mary  announced  that 
the  palace  at  Greenwich,  which  had  already  been  partially 
rebuilt,  should  be  completed  and  given  to  disabled  seamen. 
The  first  order  for  proceeding  with  the  building  was  given 
on  June  4,  i6g6,  and  on  June  30  Evelyn  went  with  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  to  Greenwich,  where  "  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  precisely,  .  .  .  the  king's  astronomer  observing 
the  punctual  time  by  instruments,"  they  "  laid  the  first  stone 
of  the  foundation  "  of  Greenwich  Hospital. 

Richmond  Palace 

There  is  nothing  to  show  when  a  palace  was  first  built  at 
Shene,  but  a  capital  messuage  belonged  to  the  manor  as  early 
as  1292 :  here  Edward  I.  received  the  Scots  commissioners 
who  had  come  to  ask  for  his  arbitration  in  the  question  of 
the  succession. 

Probably  Edward  III.  enlarged  the  manor-house  :  he  often 
stayed  at  Shene,  and  died  there  in  1377.  His  grandson 
Richard  IL  seems  to  have  been  with  him  at  the  time.  With 
this  king  the  palace  appears  to  have  been  a  favourite  at  first, 
but  after  the  queen  died  there  in  1394  he  ordered  the  house 
to  be  destroyed,  and  it  remained  in  partial  ruin  until 
Henry  V.  began  to  rebuild  it.  Most  of  the  rebuilding, 
however,  was  probably  done  by  Henry  VI.,  in  order  to  have 
the  palace  beautiful  for  his  beautiful  queen.  It  was  after- 
wards granted  by  Edward  IV.  to  his  queen  for  life. 


RlCH.MOMi    I'AI.ACK. 
F>o»i  an  old  f»  hit  tn  the  British  M itscuiti. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  6i 

Henry  VII.  liked  Shene,  and  frequently  stayed  there. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  formed  tlie  library,  which  still  existed 
in  1607,  but  is  not  mentioned  in  the  survey  of  1649  :  it  may 
have  been  added  to  the  library  at  Whitehall. 

In  December,  1497,  while  the  royal  family  were  staying 
at  Shene,  a  fire  broke  out  "  about  nine  of  the  clocke  at 
night  .  .  .  and  continued  till  midnight,  by  violence  whereof 
much  and  a  great  part  of  the  old  buildings  of  that  place  was 
brent."  It  was,  however,  rebuilt  with  great  splendour  by 
Henry  VII. :  this  work  was  finished  in  1501,  when  the  name 
of  the  palace  was  changed  to  Richmond,  after  the  king's 
Yorkshire  earldom.  There  was  another  fire  in  1506,  but  the 
building  was  completely  repaired  in  the  same  year  :  the 
damage,  indeed,  cannot  have  been  very  great,  for  Philip, 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  was  received  there  by  King  Henry  shortly 
afterwards.  The  duke  had  been  "weather-driven,  through 
great  tempest  of  winde  at  the  south-west  which  began 
15  January  and  continued  till  the  26th,  so  that  he  came 
ashore  at  Falmouth  in  England  as  he  was  passing  out  of 
Flanders  toward  Spaine."  He  was  "  honourably  received 
by  the  Earl  of  Arundel  at  the  king's  appointment,  with 
300  horses,  all  by  torchlight,"  and  brought  to  Richmond, 
whence  he  departed  not  until  he  had  made  promise  to 
deliver  to  Henry  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  who  had  taken  refuge  at 
the  Burgundian  Court. 

Henry  VII.  died  at  Richmond,  and  Henry  VIII.  came 
there  with  Queen  Katherine  to  spend  the  first  Christmas  after 
his  accession.  Their  first  son,  Henry,  was  born  at  this  palace 
on  January  i,  151 1,  but  he  died  in  the  following  February. 

In  1515  the  treaty  between  England  and  France  was 
completed  at  Richmond,  and  in  1522  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
stayed  there  for  a  short  time. 


62        ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

When  Henry  VIH.  had  obtained  Hampton  Court  from 
Wolsey,  he  gave  the  Cardinal  leave  to  live  at  the  manor  of 
Richmond,  and  in  1540  the  palace  was  given  to  Anne  of 
Cleves.  She  lived  there  until  the  accession  of  Edward  VI., 
when  she  gave  it  up  to  the  king,  who  seems  to  have  been 
very  fond  of  the  place,  though  the  warmth  there  was  said  to 
be  bad  for  his  health. 

Queen  Mary  spent  part  of  her  honeymoon  at  Richmond 
in  1554,  and  occasionally  kept  Court  there  afterwards. 
Elizabeth  came  there  as  a  prisoner  on  her  way  to  Woodstock, 
and  frequently  stayed  at  the  palace  after  she  became  queen  : 
there  she  received  Eric,  King  of  Sweden,  when  he  came  to 
make  her  a  proposal  of  marriage;  and  another  suitor,  the 
Duke  of  Alen9on,  was  also  a  guest  there. 

The  palace  at  that  time  stood  facing  the  river.  To  the 
north  of  it  stretched  the  park,  now  known  as  the  Old  Deer 
Park,  which  probably  included  the  rabbit  warren  mentioned 
in  the  survey  of  1292  :  the  new  park  is  first  mentioned  in 
1455.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  two  were  laid  together 
between  1617  and  1649.  The  park  then  contained  349 
acres,  and  was  called  the  Little,  or  Old,  Park,  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  larger  park  now  called  Richmond  Park,  which 
was  enclosed  by  Charles  I.  This  park  was  stocked  with  red 
and  fallow  deer  in  1637  ;  but  there  was  so  much  indignation 
at  the  enclosure,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  king  had  begun 
to  build  the  enclosing  wall  before  he  had  completed  the 
purchase  of  the  necessary  property,  that  gates  had  to  be 
placed  in  the  wall,  and  permission  given  to  the  pubhc  to 
use  the  roads,  and  to  the  poor  to  take  away  firewood, 
according  to  custom.  The  preservation  of  game  and  private 
shooting  in  the  park  were  abolished  in  1904,  after  the  death 
of  the  last  ranger,  George,  Duke  of  Cambridge. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  63 

At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  royal  palace  fell 
into  decay,  and  the  lodge  in  the  Little  Park,  cast  of  the 
present  Kew  Observatory,  became  the  chief  residence.  This 
had  originally  been  the  keeper's  lodge,  and  was  the  house 
occupied  by  Wolscy  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  It  was 
given  by  George  I.  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  there  made 
his  summer  residence,  which  is  described  as  "  very  neat  and 
pretty"  ;  there  was  a  fine  avenue  of  trees  running  from  the 
palace  to  the  town  on  one  side  and  to  the  river  on  the  other. 
There  was  a  terrace  looking  towards  the  river,  and  the 
gardens  were  spacious  and  well  kept,  "  but  above  all  the 
wood  cut  out  into  walks,  with  the  plenty  of  birds  singing  in 
it,  made  it  a  most  delicious  habitation." 

George  II.  settled  the  lodge  on  Queen  Caroline,  who  made 
a  dairy  there :  she  seems  also  to  have  taken  some  interest 
in  the  garden,  to  which  she  made  several  additions,  including 
a  grotto  called  Merlin's  Cave,  and  a  hermitage. 

George  III.  often  came  to  Richmond  early  in  his  reign.  In 
1761  he  settled  the  estate  on  his  queen,  who  pulled  down  the 
lodge  about  1770,  intending  to  build  a  new  palace  on  its 
site ;  but  though  the  foundations  were  laid,  the  design  was 
never  completed. 

The  White,  or  Stone,  Lodge  was  originally  built  by 
George  II.,  but  two  wings  were  added  to  it  later  by  Princess 
Amelia.  Queen  Victoria  spent  a  short  time  there  after  her 
mother's  death,  and  King  Edward  VII.  stayed  there  when 
Prince  of  Wales.  It  afterwards  became  the  house  of  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Teck,  and  Edward  Prince  of  Wales 
was  born  there  in  1894. 

The  gardens  at  Richmond  were  united  to  those  at  Kew  by 
Act  of  Parliament  in  1785,  by  closing  a  footpath  over  a  mile 
long  called  Love  Lane. 


64        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Kew  Palace 

In  1552  the  manor  of  Kew  included  a  mansion  and  a 
dairy  house,  with  two  gardens  and  orchards ;  but  it  was 
afterwards  divided,  and  the  site  of  each  of  these  buildings 
was  occupied  by  a  royal  palace.  There  was  a  third  Palace 
of  Kew,  a  huge  battlemented  building  designed  by  Wyatt, 
which  was  begun  in  the  time  of  George  III.,  but  never 
completed. 

Mary  Tudor  had  a  house  at  Kew  in  the  reign  of  her 
father :  the  cost  of  the  drive  from  Kew  to  Richmond  is 
entered  among  her  household  expenses  in  1522,  and  she  was 
still  living  there  in  1537.  Her  aunt  Mary,  the  widow  of 
Louis  XII.  and  wife  of  Charles  Brandon,  is  also  said  to  have 
lived  there  for  a  time  after  her  return  to  England,  and  Eliza- 
beth the  daughter  of  James  I.  had  a  household  there  during 
the  early  years  of  her  father's  reign. 

After  the  division  of  the  estate  the  house  at  Kew  became 
the  property  of  Sir  Henry  Capel,  the  founder  of  Kew 
Gardens.  His  great-niece,  Lady  Elizabeth  Capel,  married 
Samuel  Molyneux,  secretary  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  after- 
wards George  II.  Molyneux  was  much  interested  in 
astronomy,  and  used  a  large  room  at  the  top  of  the  house  as 
an  observatory,  "  keeping  all  his  mathematical  and  mechani- 
cal instruments  at  one  end  of  it,  and  a  planetarium  at  the 
other."  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  took  much  interest  in 
this  observatory,  and  after  Lady  Elizabeth's  death  in  1730 
he  took  a  lease  of  the  house,  and  arranged  for  daily  lectures 
on  astronomy  to  be  read  to  the  household  during  the  winter 
of  1737. 

The  palace  was  probably  rebuilt  for  the  prince  by  William 
Kent,    who    certainly    designed    the    ceiling   in    the    state 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER 


drawing-room  and  was  responsible  for  many  of  the  other 
decorations.  The  gallery  was  at  this  time  adorned  with 
paintings  of  children,  and  the  spaces  between  the  windows 
were  filled  by  large  painted  looking-glasses. 

About  1770  George  III.,  finding  that  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  have  a  larger  country-house  than  Richmond  Lodge, 
bought  the  freehold  of  Kew  House.  The  life  of  the  royal 
household  there  seems  to  have  been  very  simple  and  quiet. 
The  king  and  queen  rose  at  six  and  were  joined  at  eight 
o'clock  breakfast  by  their  elder  children ;  the  younger  ones 
came  in  at  nine.  In  the  afternoon  the  queen  did  needle- 
work, while  the  king  read  to  her ;  and  about  once  a  week 
the  whole  family  made  a  tour  of  the  gardens. 

The  house  itself  at  this  time  was  large  and  rambling  and 
contained  so  many  small,  dark  rooms,  "  with  staircases  to 
every  passage,  and  passages  to  every  closet,"  that  Miss 
Burney  declared  she  lost  her  way  continually  only  in  passing 
from  her  room  to  the  queen's.  Such  a  house  was  not 
well  adapted  for  a  palace :  it  was  soon  discovered  to 
be  inconvenient  and  old-fashioned,  and  was  pulled  down 
in  1802. 

When  Kew  House  was  bought  by  George  III.  the 
Princess  of  Wales  moved  to  the  Dutch  House,  which  had 
been  built,  probably  on  the  site  of  the  old  dairy  house,  by 
Samuel  Forthey,  a  London  merchant  of  Flemish  extraction. 
This  house  stood  opposite  Kew  House  and  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  Crown  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It 
seems  to  have  been  used  by  the  daughters  of  George  II.  in 
1728,  and  subsequently  became  "  the  nursery "  where  the 
children  of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  were  brought  up. 
The  Princess  of  Wales  died  there  in  1772. 

George  III.  and  Queen  Charlotte  lived  there  after  the  old 
R.P.  F 


66        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

palace  was  pulled  down,  and  the  queen  died  there  a  little 
more  than  a  year  before  her  husband's  death. 

The  Queen's  Cottage,  which  is  thatched  and  contains 
three  rooms  only,  was  used  by  Queen  Charlotte  and  the 
princess  as  a  sort  of  summer-house.  Part  of  the  land 
round  it  is  covered  with  thick  wood :  the  rest  used  to  be  laid 
out,  but  has  lately  been  allowed  to  grow  wild.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  when  Kew  Gardens 
were  thrown  open  to  the  public,  the  cottage,  with  about 
forty  acres  of  the  land  round  it,  was  reserved  ;  but  this  also 
was  given  up,  in  1897,  and  on  May  i,  1899,  both  the  palace 
and  the  grounds  were  thrown  open. 

Dartford  Priory 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  Priory  of  Dartford  in  153 1, 
King  Henry  VIII.  used  the  buildings  as  a  house  for  him- 
self. He  held  a  meeting  of  the  Privy  Council  there  in 
1541. 

Anne  of  Cleves  was  received  at  Dartford  Priory  on  her 
way  to  Greenwich  after  her  first  interview  with  Henry  at 
Rochester,  and  the  house  and  manor  were  afterwards 
granted  to  her  by  Edward  VI.  in  exchange  for  certain  other 
manors.  She  died  at  Dartford  in  1556,  and  the  priory  was 
then  used  by  Queen  Mary  until  its  restoration,  in  1558,  to 
the  nuns,  who  were,  however,  expelled  again  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  The  building  was  then  used  as  a  palace  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  who  stayed  there  after  her  progresses  into  Kent 
in  1559  and  1573.  It  seems  to  have  fallen  into  disuse  towards 
the  end  of  this  reign :  in  1598  the  officer  of  works  was  ordered 
to  take  down  a  square  stone  building  at  Dartford  House  and 
use  the  stones  for  some  alterations  at  Whitehall,  and  about 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  67 

three  years  later  a  special  commission  declared  that  the 
priory  could  not  be  made  fit  for  the  queen's  use  for  less 
than  about  ;^i,200.  After  this  date  the  house  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  used  by  royalty,  and  in  1607  it  was  granted  to 
Robert,  Earl  of  Salisbury. 

Woodstock 

Among  the  royal  manors  visited  for  the  sake  of  the  hunting 
Woodstock  was  early  one  of  the  rriost  favoured :  the  estate 
was  part  of  the  ancient  demesne  of  the  Crown  at  the  time  of 
the  Domesday  Survey,  and  the  manor-house  is  said  to  have 
been  a  royal  residence  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  Wych- 
wood  Forest  stretched  east  and  west  from  Woodstock  to  the 
borders  of  Gloucestershire,  and  Henry  I.  enclosed  a  part  of  it 
to  form  a  deer  park,  which  he  surrounded  with  a  wall  of  stone 
from  the  neighbouring  quarries.  The  extent  of  this  wall  is  not 
known,  but  it  probably  enclosed  the  oldest  part  of  the  present 
park,  which  lies  to  the  south  of  the  site  of  the  manor-house 
and  contains  some  magnificent  oaks,  said  to  be  at  least  seven 
hundred  years  old.  After  the  making  of  this  park  King  Henry 
came  very  often  to  Woodstock,  and  it  was  there  that  he  rode 
"on  a  Wednesday,  the  fourth  before  the  Ides  of  January, 
with  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  on  one  side  of  him,  and 
Robert,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  on  the  other.  And  as  they  rode 
there  talking,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  sank  down,  and  said  to 
the  king,  *  My  Lord  King,  I  am  dying  ' ;  and  the  king  dis- 
mounted, and  took  him  in  his  arms,  and  bade  them  bear  him 
to  his  house,  and  he  soon  lay  there  dead." 

The  mention  of  this  Bishop  of  Lincoln  recalls  the  story  of 
one  of  his  successors  in  the  see — St.  Hugh,  whose  condemna- 
tion of  "  fair  Rosamund,  whom  King  Henry  so  dearly  loved,' 

F    2 


68        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

has  been  preserved  by  Roger  of  Hoveden.  It  is,  of  course, 
with  Henry  II.  that  the  old  palace  of  Woodstock  is  usually 
associated,  though  he  does  not  seem  to  have  come  there 
oftener  than  his  grandfather ;  but  then  there  was  no  scandalous 
romance  connected  with  the  visits  of  the  earlier  king  for  the 
ballad-mongers  to  seize.  The  story  of  the  wondrous  maze, 
only  penetrated  with  the  aid  of  a  silken  clue,  in  the  centre  of 
which  Rosamund  had  her  bower,  is  too  well  known  to  need 
repetition.  A  few  yards  from  the  bridge,  facing  the  site  of 
the  old  palace,  is  a  spring  which  is  still  called  Rosamund's 
Well.  In  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  surrounded  by  the 
remains  of  buildings  which  Aubrey  confidently  described  to 
his  friend  Anthony  Wood  as  "  Rosamund's  Bower  at  Wood- 
stock Park."  There  seems  to  have  been  a  house  there  at 
least  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
which  contained  a  "  room  called  Rosamund's,"  ^  and  possibly 
also  a  small  chapel.  The  house  was  apparently  adjoined  by  a 
garden,  which  may  very  likely  have  been  the  original  of  the 
famous  maze. 

Woodstock  was  no  less  favoured  by  Edward  III.,  especially 
during  the  early  part  of  his  reign.  The  Black  Prince  was 
born  there  on  the  15th  of  June,  1330,  according  to  local  tradition 
not  at  the  palace,  but  at  a  house  outside  the  park,  which  still 
bears  his  name :  part  of  this  house  is  certainly  as  old  as  the 
fourteenth  century,  but  the  story  has  been  discredited  on  the 
ground  that  the  queen  was  more  likely  to  have  been  at  the 
palace. 

Queen  Philippa  spent  the  first  years  of  her  married  life  at 
Woodstock,  before  her  husband's  foreign  policy  took  him  to 

*  It  was  repaired  in  1334  :  Close  Roll.  "The  chaplain  and  the 
gardener  "  are  mentioned  in  the  same  document,  but  it  is  possible  that 
they  were  attached  to  the  palace  and  not  to  the  house  opposite. 


T 


WoousTOCK  Castle. 

From  an  old  f>rint  in  the  British  Museuiii. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER  69 

France  and  her  to  the  north.  They  met  again  at  Woodstock 
in  1345  and  celebrated  the  king's  birthday  there  with  much 
splendour  ;  but  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  Edward  seems 
to  have  transferred  his  affections  to  Eltham,  and  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years  after  this  date  the  old  palace  was  very 
little  used. 

The  Princess  Elizabeth  came  to  Woodstock  after  Wyatt's 
rebellion,  and  remained  there  a  prisoner  for  a  year  in  charge 
of  Sir  Henry  Bedingfield.  She  does  not  appear  to  have  come 
there  often  after  she  became  queen,  but  during  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century  Woodstock  enjoyed  a  brief  return 
of  royal  favour.  Charles  I.  paid  frequent  visits  to  the  place, 
and  an  oratory  was  made  there  for  the  queen :  according  to 
tradition,  one  of  the  houses  near  the  town  hall  was  at  first 
used  for  this  purpose.  The  palace  was  in  good  repair  in 
1649,  but,  unlike  Nonesuch,  it  found  no  one  to  plead  for  its 
preservation.  The  parliamentary  commissioners  decided  that 
the  estate  "  might  very  commodiously  be  divided  into  three 
parts,"  and  it  was  accordingly  let  to  Fleetwood,  Rooke,  and 
Butler.  During  the  next  few  years  much  of  the  palace  was 
pulled  down,  but  the  "  fair  large  Gate  House  "  was  still 
capable  of  being  used  as  a  lodge  in  the  time  of  Charles  H. 
It  seems  to  have  been  allowed  to  fall  into  disrepair  before 
1695,  for  William  III.,  the  last  of  its  royal  owners  to  visit 
Woodstock,  "  lay  at  Mr.  Cary's,  an  old  gentleman  of  near  an 
hundred  years  of  age,  who  had  been  servant  to  James  I., 
Charles  I.,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Charles  II.,  and  James  II.,  and 
was  then  servant  to  King  William."  On  this  occasion  Cary 
showed  portraits  of  all  his  former  masters  to  the  king,  point- 
ing out  that  there  was  still  room  for  His  Majesty's  picture. 
Whether  the  king  acted  on  the  hint  is  not  recorded,  but  he  is 
said  to  have  been  "  pleased  at  the  old  gentleman's  simplicity 


70        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

in  setting  out  his  pictures,  which,  it  seems,  had  all  been  given 
him."i 

The  estate  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Crown  until 
1706,  when  it  was  given  to  the  Duke  of  Marlborough.  Sir 
John  Vanbrugh,  the  Blenheim  architect,  was  anxious  to 
preserve  the  ruins  of  the  manor-house,  but  ruins  had  not  yet 
come  with  landscape  gardening  into  fashion  :  the  Lord 
Treasurer  Godolphin  declared  that  they  were  "  an  unsightly 
object  in  front  of  the  palace,"  and  the  last  remains  of  the  old 
building  were  ruthlessly  destroyed.  The  place  where  it  stood 
is  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  bridge  on  the  side  of  the  valley 
opposite  to  the  present  house.  The  site  is  overgrown  with 
grass  and  nettles,  and  planted  with  chestnut  trees:  two 
sycamores,  planted  in  1723,  mark  the  place  where  the  Gate 
House  stood.  A  causeway  led  across  the  marshy  ground  of 
the  valley,  now  filled  by  the  pool,  to  the  old  palace,  and  of 
this  causeway  the  small  island  known  as  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Island  formed  a  part. 

Enfield 

Enfield  Manor  became  the  property  of  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster, afterwards  Henry  IV.,  on  his  marriage  with  one  of  the 
Bohun  heiresses ;  but  the  house  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
used  by  any  king  before  Henry  VIII.  Richard  III.,  indeed, 
gave  the  estate  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  but  it  reverted 
to  the  Crown  on  his  attainder  in  1485. 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  Henry  VIII.  Elizabeth  was 
staying  at  Enfield.  She  was  joined  shortly  afterwards  by  her 
brother,  on  his  way  to  London.  After  his  coronation  he 
gave   Enfield   Manor  to  Elizabeth,  together  with    Elsynge 

*  Tindal,  Continuation  of  Rapin. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  71 

Hall,  which  had  been  given  to  Henry  VHI.  by  the  Earl  of 
Rutland  and  was  also  sometimes  called  "  the  King's  House 
at  Enfield." 

It  seems  to  have  been  at  Elsyngc  Hall  that  Margaret 
Tudor  stayed  in  1516  when  she  "  came  to  Enfield  on  Ascen- 
sion Day  and  there  tarryd  till  Friday."  Elizabeth  visited 
the  place  frequently  during  the  first  ten  years  of  her  reign, 
and  was  there  again  in  1596,  on  which  occasion  she  "had 
toils  set  up  by  the  parke  to  shoot  at  bucks  after  dinner." 
The  estate  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Crown  until 
1641,  when  Charles  I.  sold  it  to  Philip,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  for 

The  site  of  Elsynge  Hall  was  unknown  in  1800,  but  it  was 
suggested  that  it  might  have  stood  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  Forty  Hill,  near  the  stream  which  runs  to  Enfield 
Wash  :  the  remains  of  artificial  ponds,  possibly  belonging  to 
the  garden,  might  at  that  time  still  be  traced  at  this  spot. 

Enfield  House,  which  is  said  to  have  been  fully  a  mile 
distant  from  the  parish  church,  has  also  disappeared. 
According  to  tradition,  Queen  Mary  used  it  as  a  palace ;  but 
it  was  leased  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  to  Henry  Middle- 
more.  It  is  said  to  have  been  afterwards  granted  to  the 
Cecils,  but  appears  to  have  been  considered  Crown  property 
in  1649,  at  which  date  the  property  was  divided  into  lots  and 
sold.  It  was  subsequently  enclosed,  with  the  result  that  a 
body  of  men  claiming  rights  of  common  threatened  to  pull 
down  the  houses  unless  the  enclosures  were  destroyed  ;  and 
four  files  of  soldiers  had  to  be  sent  against  them  in  July,  1659. 

After  the  Restoration  Enfield  was  held  on  lease  by  various 
people,  and  the  house  was  not  again  occupied  by  any  one  of 
royal  blood,  though  King  Charles  seems  to  have  used  the 
East  Bailey  Lodge  occasionally  as  a  hunting-box. 


72        ROYAL' PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


Nonesuch 

Nonesuch,  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  the  Codingtons, 
was  one  of  the  numerous  estates  acquired  by  Henry  VIIL  in 
exchange  for  other  land.  The  king  made  two  parks  and 
began  to  build  the  palace  which  was  afterwards  given, 
unfinished,  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel  by  Queen  Mary. 

Arundel  finished  the  building  with  so  much  splendour  that 
it  was  said  to  stand  "  a  monument  of  art,  with  so  many 
wonders  of  workmanship  that  it  may  justly  lay  claim  to  its 
title  and  is  well  able  to  support  it."  The  house  was  "  so 
surrounded  with  parks  full  of  deer,  delicate  orchards,  garden 
groves  adorned  with  arbours,  and  walks  shaded  with  trees, 
that  pleasure  and  health  may  seem  to  have  made  choice  of 
the  place  to  live  together." 

Queen  Elizabeth  visited  Arundel  at  Nonesuch  in  August, 
1559,  and  had  great  entertainment  with  masques  and  music. 
On  the  last  night  was  performed  a  "play  of  the  children  of 
Paul's.  .  .  .  The  entertainment  lasted  till  three  in  the 
morning  and  the  earl  presented  Her  Majesty  with  a  cupboard 
of  plate."  The  queen  visited  Nonesuch  again  in  1567,  1579, 
and  1580  :  she  subsequently  bought  it  from  Lord  Lumley, 
and  there  spent  some  part  of  each  summer  towards  the  close 
of  her  reign.  It  was  there  that  she  had  the  famous  interview 
with  her  favourite  Essex  on  his  return  from  Ireland. 

James  I.  settled  Nonesuch  House  together  with  the  Little 
Park  on  Queen  Anne.  The  Great  Park  was  leased  to  Lord 
Lumley,  but  it  was  soon  found  that  "the  fayr  house  at 
Nonesuch  would  be  nothing  pleasing  to  the  queene  without 
she  could  procure  the  Great  Park  and  some  of  his  lordship's 
adjoining  lands."  This  sale  was  afterwards  arranged,  and 
King  James  came  to  stay  at  Nonesuch  in  the  summer  of  1624. 


■;ti 


^( 


—    ^ 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  73 

Charles  I.  gave  the  place  to  Henrietta  Maria.  The  house 
at  this  time  is  described  as  a  "  faycr  strong  and  large 
structure  of  freestone  of  two  large  stories  high  well  wrought 
and  battled  with  stone  and  covered  with  blue  slate,  standing 
round  a  court  .  .  .  paved  with  stone,  commonly  called  the 
Outward  Court  .  .  .  and  one  other  faire  and  very  curious 
structure  of  two  stories  high,  the  lower  story  whereof  is  of 
good  and  well-wrought  freestone,  and  the  higher  of  wood, 
richly  adorned,  set  forth  and  garnished  with  variety  of 
statues  pictures  and  other  antick  forms  of  excellent  art  and 
workmanship  of  no  small  cost :  all  which  building  ...  is 
covered  with  blue  slate  and  incloscth  one  faire  and  large 
court  .  .  .  paved  with  freestone  commonly  called  the  Inner 
Court."  There  was  also  a  gatehouse  which  contained  a 
large  room  "  very  delectable  for  prospect,"  and  "  a  clock  and 
bell  ...  of  most  excellent  workmanship,  a  verie  speciall 
ornament  to  Nonesuch  House." 

There  was  a  large  garden  at  Nonesuch,  set  about  with 
thorn  hedges,  which  in  1649  was  pronounced  to  be  "in  a 
condition  of  some  neglect,  yet  with  a  little  labour  may 
answer  the  expectation  of  a  very  handsome  garden."  There 
was  also  an  orchard,  but  this  was  evidently  not  considered 
the  only  place  for  fruit-growing,  for  the  garden  contained  one 
hundred  and  forty  fruit  trees  as  well  as  the  less  useful  "  ewe  " 
trees  and  lilacs.  The  "  lelacks,  which  trees  beare  no  fruit, 
but  only  a  verie  pleasant  flower,"  seem  to  have  been  great 
favourites,  for  there  were  six  of  them  in  the  garden  besides 
those  which  were  set  round  the  fountain  of  white  marble. 

Among  the  "speciall  ornaments"  to  Nonesuch  were  the 
trees  which  grew  "  in  such  a  decent  order  "  near  the  house. 
Two  hundred  of  these  were  marked,  together  with  2,605 
others    in    the   parks,  for   the   use   of   the    Navy ;    but  the 


74        ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

parliamentary  surveyors  made  "  bould  to  certifie  that  the 
cutting  down  would  not  only  very  much  impayre  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  structure,  but  would  also  exceedingly  detract 
from  the  pleasantness  of  the  seate."  The  estate  was  sub- 
sequently leased  by  the  Crown  Lands  Commissioners  to 
Algernon  Sidney. 

Charles  II.  visited  Nonesuch  soon  after  the  Restoration, 
and  in  July,  1665,  he  ordered  that  the  Exchequer  should  be 
removed  thither  from  Westminster  on  account  of  the  plague. 

In  January,  1671,  the  king  granted  Nonesuch  with  the 
Little  and  Great  Parks  and  the  great  meadow  to  George, 
Lord  Grandison,  and  Henry  Brouncker  in  trust  for  Barbara 
Palmer,  Duchess  of  Cleveland. 

Oatlands 

Henry  VIII.  obtained  Oatlands  in  exchange  for  the  manor 
of  Tandridge  :  the  arrangement  was  made  with  Thomas 
Cromwell,  whom  the  king  had  appointed  guardian  of  John 
Rede,  the  heir  to  the  estate.  Henry  was  making  a  chase  at 
Hampton  Court,  and  probably  wanted  the  land  for  that 
purpose,  for  he  does  not  seem  to  have  made  much  use  of  the 
house. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  however,  spent  some  time  there  in  August, 
1590,  and  again  in  1602,  on  which  occasion  she  is  said  to  have 
practised  shooting  with  a  cross-bow  in  the  paddock. 

The  palace  was  in  greater  favour  with  the  first  two  Stuarts. 
James  I.  gave  it  to  his  queen,  Anne  of  Denmark,  who  visited  it 
on  several  occasions  and  built  a  room  afterwards  known  as  the 
silkworm  room.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  the  place  belonged 
to  Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  whose  son  Henry,  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  was  born  there  in  1640.     During  the  Civil  War, 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  75 

however,  it  was  neglected,  and  in  the  time  of  the  Common- 
wealth the  whole  of  the  royal  house  was  destroyed  except 
"  Dorset's  Lodgings  "  and  the  silkworm  room,  then  used 
as  "the  gardener's  chamber."  After  the  Restoration  the 
queen  was  put  in  possession  of  the  palace,  but  in  1661  a  lease 
was  granted  to  the  Earl  of  St.  Albans,  and  after  this  date 
Oatlands  does  not  seem  to  have  been  occupied  by  any  royal 
person  until  it  was  bought  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury by  the  Duke  of  York.  William  III.  granted  it  in  fee 
simple  to  the  Earl  of  Torrington. 

Grafton 

The  manor  of  Grafton  in  Northamptonshire  was  given  to 
King  Henry  VIII.  in  exchange  for  certain  lands  in  Leicester- 
shire by  Thomas  Grey,  Marquis  of  Dorset.  It  remained  in 
the  possession  of  the  Crown  until  Charles  II.  gave  it  to 
Henry  Fitzroy,  afterwards  Duke  of  Grafton,  but  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  much  used  as  a  royal  residence,  though 
Queen  Elizabeth  stayed  there  on  her  progress  through 
Northamptonshire  in  1568,  and  possibly  also  in  1575. 

King's  Langley 

King's  Langley  in  Hertfordshire  was  a  royal  manor  as 
early  as  the  fourteenth  centur>',  and  Edmund,  the  fifth  son 
of  Edward  III.,  was  born  there  in  1341.  The  palace  with  its 
demesne  lands  remained  to  the  Crown  till  James  I.  gave  it  to 
Henry,  Prince  of  Wales ;  but  this  building  was  probably  a 
new  one,  as  the  old  palace  seems  to  have  been  destroyed 
before  1558.  In  that  year  a  survey  was  made  of  "the  land 
whereon  the  manor-houses  stood,"    but  the   only   buildings 


76        ROYAL   PALACES   OF    ENGLAND 

mentioned  were  the  gatehouse,  which  stood  at  the  edge  of  a 
piece  of  "  land  called  the  Court-Wick  antiently  being  a  court 
to  the  king's  house,"  and  the  "  old  buildings  known  as  the 
Eight  Bayes." 

The  manor  was  given  to  Prince  Charles  after  his  brother's 
death,  and  he  granted  the  reversion  of  it  to  Sir  Charles 
Morrison  in  1626. 

Hatfield 

Hatfield  House  was  one  of  the  many  houses  which  King 
Henry  VHI.  obtained  in  exchange  for  other  property  from  a 
subject :  it  had  formerly  belonged  to  the  Bishop  of  Ely. 
Edward  VI.  stayed  there  when  he  was  Prince  of  Wales,  but 
after  his  accession  he  conveyed  it  to  his  sister  Elizabeth, 
who  lived  there  for  some  time  in  her  sister's  reign.  Queen 
Mary  came  to  visit  her  there  in  1558. 

James  I.,  shortly  after  he  came  to  the  throne,  exchanged 
Hatfield  House  for  Sir  Robert  Cecil's  house  at  Theobalds, 
the  nearness  of  which  to  the  city  of  London,  the  forest  of 
Waltham  Chase  and  the  park  at  Enfield,  made  it  "  a  place 
convenient  for  His  Majesty's  princely  sports  and  recreations, 
and  commodious  for  the  entertainment  of  foreign  princes  and 
their  ambassadors  upon  all  occasions."  The  first  Earl  of 
Salisbury  built  the  present  house  in  the  reign  of  James  I. 

Theobalds 

The  building  of  Theobalds  had  been  begun  in  the  previous 
reign  by  Sir  Robert  Cecil  "  with  a  mean  measure,  but 
encreased  on  occasion  of  Her  Majesty's  often  comyng." 
King  James,  having  obtained  it,  enlarged  the  park  and  sur- 
rounded it  with  a  brick  wall  ten  miles  in  circumference.     He 


_      v; 
—     ^» 

>    a 


« 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER  77 


often  came  to  the  place  for  hunting,  and  died  there  in  March, 

1625. 

Charles  I.  came  to  Theobalds  several  times  in  the  early 
part  of  his  reign  :  his  later  visits  were  less  frequent,  but  he 
was  there  in  February,  1642,  when  the  petition  from  both 
Houses  was  presented  to  him. 

The  estate  was  granted  by  Charles  II.  to  George  Monk, 
Duke  of  Albemarle,  in  1661. 


Win^0or  Castk. 


THE  history  of  Windsor  Castle  may  be  well 
described  as  an  epitome  of  the  history  of 
England.  The  castle  has  been,  and  still  is, 
the  scene  of  historical  events  of  far-reaching 
importance,  and  therefore  a  sense  of  the  unbroken  chain  of 
cause  and  effect  that  makes  the  continuity  of  history  becomes 
very  real  at  Windsor.  The  building  thus  appears  as  something 
more  than  a  mere  picturesque  background  for  the  gorgeous 
pageantry  and  the  romantic  incidents  that  fill  the  lives  of 
kings  and  queens,  especially  during  the  Middle  Ages  ; 
although,  as  Pepys  said,  when  he  went  there  for  the  first 
time   in    1665,    "  It   is   the   most  romantique  castle  in  the 

world." 

In  its  time  it  has  "  played  many  parts  "  ;  like  the  Tower  of 
London  it  has  been  alternately  a  fortress,  a  prison,  a  palace, 
and  a  royal  tomb.  For  nearly  nine  hundred  years  a  castle 
has  stood  at  Windsor,  silently  witnessing  the  turn  of  Fortune's 
wheel,  the  continual  recurrence  of  birth,  marriage,  and  death, 
those  three  great  realities  that  form  the  cycle  of  life  for 
kings  as  well  as  commoners.  The  more  ancient  the  house 
the  greater  is  the  human  interest  attached  to  it,  and  when 
that  house  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  the  nation,  and  has 
seen  the  making  of  English  history  since  the  Conquest,  it  is 
not   strange  that  EngHsh  people  should  be  conscious  of  a 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  79 

wonderful  charm  and  absorbing  interest  in  tracing  its  record 
from  century  to  century.^ 

The  Manor  of  Windsor  (Windelsore)  belonged  to  the 
Saxon  kings,  who  had  a  fortress,  probably  at  Old  Windsor, 
where  Edward  the  Confessor  occasionally  held  his  Court. 
The  first  authenticated  mention  of  the  place  is  in  the  charter 
dated  May  20,  1065,  by  which  Edward  granted  the  manor  to 
the  Abbey  of  Westminster  "  as  an  endowment  and  perpetual 
inheritance,"  but  it  did  not  long  remain  the  "  perpetual 
inheritance"  of  Westminster.  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
William  the  Conqueror  was  to  re-annex  the  manor  to  the 
Crown,  in  exchange  for  other  lands. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  "keep  and  tower"  of 
William's  castle  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  building, 
possibly  a  very  grey  and  grim  fortress,^  like  its  master,  who, 
as  the  chronicler  said,  "  was  so  stark  and  fierce  that  none 
dared  resist  his  will."  Several  entries  in  Domesday  Book 
show  Windsor  as  one  of  the  Conqueror's  residences.  The 
first  Constable  of  the  Tower  and  Warden  of  the  Forest  was 
Walter  Fitz  Other,  appointed  by  William  I.,  and  the  grant 
was  afterwards  confirmed  to  his  son  by  the  Empress  Maud. 
The  office  has  existed  to  the  present  day,  but  is  not  heredi- 
tary. The  Wardenship  of  the  Forest  can  have  been  no 
sinecure  under  the  Conqueror,  "  who  loved  the  wild  deer  as 
if  he  had  been  their  father." 

In  1072  the  Court  was  at  Windsor  for  Whitsuntide,  and  a 
controversy  arose  between  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury 

1  No  attempt  can  be  made  here  to  deal,  except  incidentally,  with  the 
architecture  of  the  castle,  or  with  those  treasures  of  art  that  belong  to 
the  Crown  and  are  kept  at  Windsor. 

'^  It  is  possible  that  the  Conqueror's  castle  was  only  a  wooden 
structure  surrounded  by  earthworks. 


8o        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


and  York  as  to  the  prior  right  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury to  perform  the  ceremon}^  of  crowning  the  king.  The 
question  was  decided,  and  the  Archbishop  of  York  professed 
canonical  obedience.  This  is  perhaps  the  first  memorable 
historical  scene  recorded  at  Windsor. 

In  1095  a  great  council  was  held  in  the  castle  in  the 
presence  of  William  IL,  for  the  trial  of  Robert  de  Mowbray, 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  who  had  organised  a  formidable 
conspiracy  against  the  king,  and  was  certainly  implicated  in 
the  murder  of  Malcolm,  King  of  Scotland.  De  Mowbray 
was  imprisoned  in  the  castle,  and  twenty-five  years  later  was 
reported  to  be  still  alive  in  the  dungeon ;  the  first  of  a  long 
series  of  royal  and  other  famous  prisoners. 

There  are  few  records  of  this  reign  at  Windsor.  No  doubt 
the  "  Red  King  "  improved  and  extended  the  forest,  for  he 
was  almost  as  mighty  a  hunter  as  his  father.  His  subjects 
spoke  of  him  scornfully  as  "  ranger  of  the  forests  and  keeper 
of  the  deer." 

Henry  L  built  or  rebuilt  the  castle,  and  it  is  conjectured  that 
some  Norman  remains  found  during  the  excavations  made 
about  1841  are  possibly  of  his  building.^  He  also  erected  a 
chapel  dedicated  to  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  endowed  a 
foundation  of  eight  secular  priests  to  serve  it.  Henry,  who 
was  born  in  England,  and  was  therefore  regarded  by  his 
Saxon  subjects  as  3.nAtheling,  is  generally  considered  the  first 
English  king,  neither  Saxon  nor  Norman.  It  was  perhaps 
in  recognition  of  this  fact,  to  which  he  owed,  partly,  his 
somewhat  uncertain  tenure  of  the  crown,  that  he  married  an 

^  Poynter  :  Introduction  to  Sir  J.  Wyatville's  Illustrations  of  Windsor 
Castle.  Miss  Strickland  has  a  charming  legend  to  the  effect  that  the 
queen  Matilda  supervised  the  new  buildings  during  the  king's  absences 
in  Normandy,  and  that  Gundulph,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  was  the  architect. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  8i 


English  wife,^  and  dedicated  his  chapel  at  Windsor  to  the 
last  of  the  Saxon  kings.  He  held  his  Court  in  the  new 
building  for  the  first  time  at  Whitsuntide,  mo,  and  was 
often  there  for  Christmas  and  other  feasts. 

The  king's  second  marriage  to  Alice,  or  Adelicia,  of 
Louvaine  took  place  in  the  chapel  in  January,  1121,  in  the 
presence  of  "  the  whole  council  of  Windsor."  A  dispute 
arose  between  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  Roger  le 
Poer,  Bishop  of  Salisbur}-,  who  claimed  the  right  to  perform 
the  ceremony  because  Windsor  was  then  in  his  diocese,  but 
the  Primate  eventually  officiated.  A  strange  marriage  it 
must  have  been,  for  Henry  was  said  "  never  to  have  smiled 
again  "  after  the  loss  of  his  son  William  in  the  White  Ship, 
and  Alice  of  Louvaine  was  only  eighteen  years  old. 

Five  years  after  his  second  marriage,  when  no  male  heir 
to  the  throne  had  been  born,  the  king  entertained  Malcolm  H. 
of  Scotland  at  Windsor  for  Christmas  (1127),  and  in  his 
presence  caused  all  the  great  religious  and  military  vassals 
of  the  Crown  to  swear  fealty  to  his  daughter  Maud,  whose 
first  husband,  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  had  lately  died. 
The  ceremony  of  crowning  the  king,  which  was  repeated  on 
the  occasion  of  nominating  his  heir,  caused  further  strife 
between  the  archbishops.  Some  turmoil  apparently  took 
place  in  the  chapel  itself,  for  the  Archbishop  of  York  was 
"  prevented  by  unanimous  consent "  from  performing  the 
ceremony,  and  his  cross- bearer  was  turned  out  of  the  chapel. 

In  1132-33  at  Christmas  the  king  "lay  sick  at  Windsor," 
and  this  was  his  last  visit  to  the  castle.  He  died  in  Normandy 
in  1135.     From  that  moment  Windsor,  with  the  rest  of  the 

'  Edith  or  Matilda,  daughter  of  Malcolm,  King  of  Scotland,  and 
Margaret,  the  sister  of  Edgar  Atheling.  She  was  always  considered 
English  for  her  mother's  sake. 

R.P.  G 


82        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


kingdom,  was  exposed  to  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  though 
no  mention  of  the  castle  is  made  in  any  of  the  records  before 
the  treaty  of  Wallingford  in  1153.  It  may  therefore  be 
inferred  that  no  siege  took  place. 

The  castle  walls,  which  had  been  left  to  fall  to  pieces 
during  the  reign  of  Stephen,  were  rebuilt  by  Henry  II.,  and 
the  castle  itself,  which  seems  to  have  been  almost  in  ruins, 
was  put  in  repair.  It  was  typical  of  the  state  in  which 
Henry  found  the  country,  and  of  the  reign  that  "  initiated  the 
rule  of  law."  But  the  king  who  showed  no  mercy,  to  himself 
or  to  others,  was  to  receive  none.  Few  but  his  own  children 
had  the  power  to  wound  him,  and  that  power  they  did  not 
fail  to  use.  There  is  a  tradition  that  in  one  of  the  rooms  at 
Windsor  the  king  caused  to  be  painted  on  the  wall  the 
picture  of  an  eagle  with  four  young  eaglets  tearing  at  their 
father's  breast,  the  smallest  attacking  his  eyes.  Henry  is 
reported  to  have  said  that  it  was  an  emblem  of  his  own 
children  :  "  If  John  has  not  yet  acted  like  his  brethren,  it  is 
only  because  he  is  not  yet  old  enough."  He  knighted  John  at 
Windsor  in  1185,  but  even  then  he  doubted  the  loyalty  of  his 
youngest  and  best-beloved  son.  The  dying  words  of  the  first 
and  mightiest  of  the  Plantagenets  were :  "  Shame,  shame  on 
a  conquered  king  !  "     His  own  children  had  conquered  him. 

It  may  have  been  a  real  sense  of  remorse  for  his  share  in 
the  rebellion  that  caused  his  father's  death  which  hurried 
Richard  to  join  his  first  Crusade.  He  left  Windsor  for  the 
Holy  Land  in  February,  iigo.  William  Longchamp,  Bishop 
of  Ely  and  Chancellor  of  England,  was  left  as  Protector  ot 
the  realm,  but  at  the  same  time  the  king  granted  the  custody 
of  Windsor  Castle,  with  the  rangership  of  the  forest  and  the 
shrievalty  of  Berkshire,  to  Hugh  Fudsey,  Bishop  of  Durham, 
then   Lord  Chief  Justice.     Richard   meant   to   maintain   a 


3S 


o 


O 


o 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  83 

balance  between  the  powers  of  the  two  bishops,  but  the  effect 
was  to  cause  a  species  of  civil  war  between  them.  The 
Chancellor's  arbitrary  conduct  eventually  incensed  the  barons 
and  most  of  the  clergy.  He  was  invited  to  meet  the  dis- 
contented nobles,  headed  by  John,  Earl  of  Moreton,  the 
king's  brother,  "  at  a  safe  place  near  Windsor,"  the  spot 
selected  being  Loddon  Bridge,  between  Reading  and  Wind- 
sor. Longchamp  did  not  appear,  but  the  Archbishop  of 
Rouen,  who  had  been  sent  by  Richard  to  assist  in  the  settle- 
ment of  affairs,  was  made  Chancellor,  and  Longchamp  was 
forced  to  give  up  the  Tower  and  Windsor,  which  he  had 
seized,  and  to  retire  to  Normandy. 

It  was  then  arranged  that  Windsor  should  be  held  by  the 
Earl  of  Arundel,  in  trust  for  Richard.  In  1193,  during  the 
captivity  of  Richard,  John,  who  never  kept  faith  with  anyone, 
assembled  an  army  and  attacked  several  of  the  king's  castles. 
Windsor  was  among  the  first  to  fall  into  his  hands.  The 
barons  of  England,  destined  from  the  beginning  to  oppose 
the  treacheries  of  John,  once  more  rose  and  besieged  Windsor, 
which  was  held  successfully  against  them  for  some  time. 
After  considerable  delay,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  had 
been  sent  by  the  king  to  collect  his  ransom,  arrived  in 
England,  and  a  larger  force  assembled  at  Windsor.  John 
and  his  followers,  fearing  the  speedy  return  and  vengeance 
of  Richard,  yielded  and  fled,  but  it  is  said  that  most  of  his 
people  were  "  apprehended  and  put  to  worthy  execution." 
On  this  occasion  Windsor,  with  other  castles,  was  left  in  the 
charge  of  the  dowager-queen  Eleanor. 

During  the  turbulent  reign  of  John  he  was  constantly  at 
Windsor,  which  he  looked  upon  as  the  strongest  of  his 
fortresses.  Warrants  and  orders  still  exist  for  wine  and 
other  provisions  to  be  transmitted  to  him  in  the  usual  way 

G    2 


84        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


by  the  river.  He  spent  Christmas,  1207,  at  the  castle,  and 
distributed  "  dresses  "  among  his  knights,  the  sheriff  of 
Wiltshire  being  commanded  to  send  a  thousand  ells  of 
woven  cloth  to  Windsor  by  Christmas  Day.  In  1209  he 
w^as  again  there  for  Christmas,  and  it  is  recorded  that  "  all 
the  nobles  of  England  were  present  and  conversing  with 
him,  notwithstanding  the  sentence  of  excommunication  under 
which  he  was  bound,  a  rumour  of  the  same,  although  it  had 
not  been  published,  had  spread  through  all  parts  of  England 
and  come  to  the  ears  of  everybody;  for  the  king  endeavoured 
to  work  evil  to  all  who  absented  themselves  from  him." 

In  February,  1210,  John  was  at  Windsor,  and  to  this 
period  belongs  one  of  the  worst  crimes  of  which  he  was 
guilty.  At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  the  de  Braose  family 
stood  high  in  the  king's  favour,  but  a  dispute  arose  concern- 
ing lands  in  Ireland,  and  William  de  Braose,  Maud  his  wife, 
their  daughter,  their  son  and  his  wife  and  children,  were 
made  prisoners,  sent  to  Bristol,  and  afterwards  to  Windsor, 
William  de  Braose  being  allowed  to  proceed  to  Normandy 
to  collect  their  ransom.  The  Annals  of  Mar  gam,  a  Welsh 
chronicle,  is  said  to  give  the  most  authentic  account  of  the 
king's  inhuman  vengeance  on  Maud  and  her  son,  who 
were  shut  up  together  in  a  room  at  Windsor,  with  a  sheaf 
of  wheat  and  a  piece  of  raw  bacon  for  their  sole  provision. 
On  the  eleventh  day  the  room  was  opened  and  they  were 
found  dead,  with  horrible  evidences  of  the  tortures  they  had 
undergone.^ 

'  In  his  dying  moments  of  remorse  John  granted  a  sum  of  money  for 
perpetual  masses  to  be  said  for  the  souls  of  his  victims.  William  de 
Braose  died  very  shortly  after  receiving  news  of  the  terrible  death  of 
his  wife  and  son.  Vide  Anna/s  of  Margam ;  Annals  of  Waverley ; 
Thos.  Wright,  Hist,  of  Ludlow,  p.  63.  This  tragedy  is  sometimes  said 
to  have  taken  place  at  Corfe  Castle. 


I 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  85 

The  year  1215  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  history 
of  England,  and,  incidentally,  of  Windsor.  The  barons  were 
actually  at  war  with  the  king,  who  had  fortified  all  his  castles 
and  garrisoned  them  with  Free  Companions  from  the  Conti- 
nent, but  an  armistice  was  agreed  upon  in  May,  and  on 
June  15  the  famous  council  met  at  Runnimede,  a  field 
between  Staines  and  Windsor.  The  council  continued  till 
June  23,  and  John  attended  the  meeting  every  day.  The 
"Great  Charter"  is  dated  June  15,  1215.  It  can  still  be 
seen  at  the  British  Museum,  burnt  and  defaced,  but  with 
John's  Great  Seal  yet  hanging  from  it. 

It  is  said  that  John  behaved  with  his  customary  levity 
and  granted  the  Charter  with  little  heed  to  its  contents,  so 
that  few  of  the  barons  believed  that  he  intended  to  be  bound 
by  its  conditions,  but  the  old  chroniclers  record  that  when  he 
was  once  more  within  the  walls  of  the  castle  he  indulged  in 
one  of  the  fierce  fits  of  rage  that  recalled  his  father's  tempera- 
ment, and  rolled  on  the  ground,  gnawing  sticks  and  straws, 
uttering  curses  against  the  barons,  and  vowing  vengeance  on 
the  nation  that  had  endeavoured  to  give  him  "  five  and 
twenty  over-kings." 

One  of  the  terms  of  the  Charter  was  that  he  should  with- 
draw his  foreign  levies  from  Windsor  and  his  other  castles, 
but  in  a  very  short  time  he  had  again  raised  an  army  of 
mercenary  troops.  Windsor  soon  fell  into  his  hands,  and 
the  whole  country  was  devastated  and  laid  waste  by  his 
marauders.  The  barons,  in  despair,  offered  the  crown  to 
Louis,  son  of  Philippe  Auguste,  King  of  France,  who  actually 
received  homage  at  St.  Paul's,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  only 
great  strongholds  that  remained  in  John's  possession  were 
Windsor,  Corfe  Castle  and  Dover. 

Louis  laid  siege  to  Dover,  and  the  barons'  army  attacked 


86        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Windsor,  which  was  defended  by  sixty  knights  and  their 
retainers.  The  king  did  not  attempt  to  raise  the  siege  of 
either  place,  but  pillaged  and  laid  waste  the  estates  of  the 
barons,  sometimes  approaching  Windsor,  but  never  joining 
in  a  battle.  The  siege  lasted  for  a  considerable  time,  and 
the  barons  were  said  to  have  been  in  "  great  jeopardy,"  but 
they  may  have  lost  heart,  for  Louis  was  not  treating  them 
honestly.  Eventually  the  besiegers  marched  away,  and 
Windsor  remained  in  the  king's  possession. 

His  death  took  place  in  October,  1216,  leaving  his  son 
Henry,  then  only  nine  years  old,  as  his  successor. 

Although  John  had  frequently  made  Windsor  his  head- 
quarters, he  added  nothing  to  the  building,  and  the  walls 
that  had  been  broken  down  during  the  last  siege  so  remained 
till  five  years  after  the  accession  of  Henry  HL  The  young 
king  and  his  advisers  remained  at  Windsor  until  peace  had 
been  concluded  with  Louis.  The  queen  Isabella,  the  Papal 
Legate,  the  Earl  Marshal,  the  barons  and  a  "great  host" 
assembled  at  Windsor  to  discuss  the  terms  of  peace.  They 
met  "  on  an  island  in  the  Thames,  beyond  Kingston  and 
towards  Windsor."  Louis  crossed  from  one  side  of  the 
river,  the  queen  and  the  legate  from  the  other.  The  terms 
of  peace  were  eventually  signed  at  Lambeth,  September  11, 
1217. 

Few  English  kings  have  been  as  thoroughly  imbued  with 
artistic  tastes  as  Henry  HI,  He  was  pre-eminently  the 
patron  and  friend  of  learning  and  art.  All  the  royal  houses, 
as  well  as  numerous  ecclesiastical  edifices,  bear  witness  to 
his  love  of  building.  The  walls  of  Windsor  were  recon- 
structed, and  necessary  works  undertaken  in  the  castle  as 
early  as  1220-21.  In  1225-26  the  "  great  hall  "  was  erected 
and   the   keep   repaired.      In    1239-40   various   apartments 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  87 

were  built  on  to  the  castle,  for  the  private  use  of  the  royal 
family,  apparently  the  first  departure  from  the  stern  fortress 
the  castle  had  been  hitherto  considered.  Henry  also  built  a 
chapel,  on  the  site  of  the  present  "  Albert  Memorial  Chapel," 
but  of  all  his  building  nothing  now  remains. 

It  was  one  of  Henry's  misfortunes  that  his  marriage  with 
Eleanor  of  Provence  brought  her  relations  over  from  Savoy, 
and  numerous  Poitevins  and  Bretons  were  allowed  to  occupy 
the  royal  castles  and  fill  many  important  posts  about  the 
Court.  The  expulsion  of  foreigners  from  the  king's  council 
was  constantly  demanded  and  as  constantly  refused.  In 
1242  Bernard  de  Savoy,  one  of  the  queen's  uncles,  was 
appointed  Constable  of  Windsor.  The  military  defence  of 
the  castle  at  the  time  was  provided  by  "  four  knights,  eleven 
soldiers,  seven  watchers  and  certain  cross-bow  men,  besides 
other  servants." 

The  king's  eldest  son,  afterwards  Edward  I.,  was  born  at 
Windsor,  and  was  chiefly  brought  up  there.  Numerous 
grants  exist  for  "  the  support  of  Edward  our  son,  and  his 
attendants  residing  with  him  in  our  castle  of  Windsor,"  and  in 
1240  Thomas,  Count  of  Flanders,  visited  England,  and,  after 
being  entertained  by  the  king  in  London,  went  to  Windsor 
to  see  the  young  prince. 

Almost  all  the  early  history  of  Henry  III.  at  Windsor  is 
concerned  with  **  building,  repairing,  painting,  paving  and 
wainscoting"  the  castle,  but  the  king  and  queen  were  often 
in  great  straits  for  money  to  meet  their  expenses.  In  1242-43 
an  order  was  issued  to  the  keeper  of  the  king's  apartments, 
directing  him  to  pawn  "  the  most  valuable  image  "  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  for  a  sum  required  to  pay  the  officers  of  the 
Chapel  Royal  at  Windsor,  under  special  condition  that  it 
should  be  "deposited  in  a  decent  place."     It  was  one  of 


88        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

four   "  gilt   images "   that   had   lately   been   placed   in    the 
chapel. 

In  1251  a  great  storm  is  said  to  have  done  "much  damage" 
to  the  castle. 

During  the  absence  of  Henry  in  Germany  in  1256,  the 
queen  entertained  at  Windsor  her  daughter  Margaret  with 
her  husband,  Alexander  III.  of  Scotland,  and  a  daughter  was 
born  to  them  in  the  castle. 

Matthew  Paris,  or  Matthew  of  Westminster,  as  he  is 
generally  called,  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  monastic 
historians,  has  given  a  vivid  picture  of  the  misrule  and 
anarchy  that  prevailed  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  into 
the  details  of  the  "  Barons'  War,"  but  the  great  castles, 
including  Windsor,  changed  hands  frequently. 

In  1263  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  had 
been  in  exile,  returned,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  barons' 
party,  and  declared  open  war  on  the  king,  who  still  held  the 
Tower  and  Windsor.  Prince  Edward  removed  a  large  sum 
of  money  (1,000  marks)  and  the  queen's  jewels  from  the 
Tower  to  Windsor,  which  he  garrisoned  with  a  strong  body 
of  mercenary  troops,  a  hundred  knights  and  their  retainers. 
Matthew  of  Westminster  describes  Windsor  at  this  period 
as  being  "the  most  magnificent  palace  then  existing  in 
Europe,"  and  says  that  the  "foreigners"  fortified  and 
strengthened  it,  but  that  they  devastated  the  surrounding 
country  in  all  directions.  Edward  was  obliged  to  surrender 
in  July,  1263,  and  all  foreigners  who  guarded  the  castle  were 
ordered  to  depart. 

Before  the  battle  of  Lewes  in  May,  1264,  Edward  had 
again  obtained  possession  of  Windsor,  and  the  king's  forces 
assembled  there ;  the  army  of  the  barons,  commanded  by 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  89 

Simon  de  Montfort,  was  assembled  in  London.  The  king 
marched  from  Windsor,  meaning  to  attack  the  Cinque  Ports, 
but  at  Lewes  he  was  defeated,  and  he  and  Prince  Edward 
were  made  prisoners.  This  victory  left  de  Montford  virtually 
at  the  head  of  the  State;  Hugh  de  Barenten,  Constable  of 
Windsor,  was  ordered  to  release  his  two  sons,  "  detained 
by  Prince  Edward's  orders,"  at  Windsor,  as  well  as  all  other 
prisoners.  Edward's  wife  Eleanor  was  also  commanded, 
under  the  king's  seal,  to  leave  the  castle  with  her  children 
and  servants;  all  those  who  had  "fortified  the  castle  against 
the  king  "  were  granted  a  free  pardon. 

The  "  reign  "  of  Simon  de  Montfort  lasted  but  one  year ; 
he  and  one  of  his  sons  were  killed  at  the  battle  of  Evesham, 
and  the  chroniclers  record  that  in  September,  1265,  "  the  king 
came  to  Wyndesore  with  a  great  power,  intending,  as  the 
fame  then  went,  to  destroy  the  city  of  London  for  the  great 
ire  and  displeasure  he  had  unto  it."  A  deputation  was  sent 
from  the  City  to  ask  the  king's  clemency,  and  eventually  forty 
citizens,  including  the  mayor,  arrived  at  the  castle,  where 
they  were  practically  imprisoned  for  some  days,  "  notwith- 
standing the  king's  safe-conduct  to  them."  Thirty-one  of 
them  were  released  and  the  rest  kept  as  hostages  till  the  fine 
imposed  on  the  City  was  paid  in  1269. 

For  the  rest  of  his  reign  Henry  enjoyed  a  little  troubled 
peace,  and  the  kingdom  was  sufficiently  quiet  for  Edward  to 
join  the  Crusade  of  1267.  He  is  said  to  have  taken  the  Cross 
in  gratitude  for  an  escape  which  he  regarded  as  miraculous. 
He  was  playing  chess  with  one  of  his  knights  in  the  hall  at 
Windsor  when  a  sudden  impulse  made  him  rise  from  his 
seat.  He  had  scarcely  done  so  when  part  of  the  groined 
stone  roof  over  his  head  fell  on  the  very  spot  where  he 
had  been  sitting.     He  attributed  his  escape  to  "Our  Lady  of 


go        ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Walsingham,"  and  built  a  beautiful  church  in  her  honour  to 
show  his  thankfulness. 

Henry  IIL  died  at  Westminster  in  1272.  For  the  last 
ten  years  of  his  life  little  or  nothing  had  been  done  to  the 
castle  at  Windsor,  though  works  were  still  being  carried  on 
in  other  royal  palaces. 

Edward  L  had  learnt  the  stern  lesson  that  the  kingdom 
might  only  be  ruled  by  law,  and  "  the  passion  of  good 
government "  had  possessed  him  from  his  youth.  Even  in 
his  connection  with  Windsor  the  change  from  the  weak  and 
inefficient  rule  that  had  marked  the  two  preceding  reigns 
becomes  apparent.  Instead  of  sieges  and  battles  the  records 
of  the  castle  show  accounts  of  improvements  of  the  royal 
property,  enclosures  in  the  forest  cultivated  and  sown,  waste 
places  reclaimed,  the  first  recorded  charter  granted  to  the 
town  of  Windsor,  and  a  wonderful  display  of  power  and 
wealth  manifested  in  the  great  tournament  held  in  the  park 
in  July,  1279.  Accoutrements  were  provided  for  thirty-eight 
knights,  many  of  whom  had  been  with  Edward  on  his 
Crusades.  An  account  has  been  preserved  of  all  the  articles 
purchased  in  France  and  England  for  this  tournament,  on 
the  king's  behalf,  by  Adinett  the  tailor. 

The  armour  for  the  knights  was  of  leather  gilt,  and 
consisted  of  a  tunic  and  surcoat,  a  pair  of  ailettes  (epaulettes), 
a  crest,  a  shield,  a  helmet  of  leather,  and  a  sword  of  "balon," 
supposed  to  be  a  sword  wrapped  in  list  or  cloth  to  blunt  its 
edge.  The  swords  were  silvered,  with  the  pommels  and  hilts 
gilt,  and  the  shields  were  of  wood.  The  twelve  knights  of 
highest  rank  had  gilded  helmets,  the  rest  had  silver.  The 
saddles  were  richly  embroidered  with  gold  and  silver,  and 
among  the  items  is  one  for  eight  hundred  little  bells,  another 
for  silken  cords  to  tie  on  the  "  ailettes,"  besides  accounts  for 


i 


V 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  91 

leather  gilt  for  the  horses'  harness.  From  Paris  came  furs  of 
different  kinds  for  the  royal  family ;  the  saddles  also  came 
from  there,  besides  gloves,  carpets,  dyed  cloths,  and  other 
requisites.  The  sum  expended  was  ^^1,429  5s.  in  Paris 
money,  about  double  the  amount  in  English  gold.  The 
scene  under  the  great  oaks  in  the  park  must  have  been 
magnificent,  as  the  knights  in  their  gilded  armour,  mounted 
on  horses  as  resplendent  as  themselves,  charged  one  another 
in  mimic  warfare.  No  doubt  many  of  them  had  met  in  real 
warfare  not  very  long  before. 

Few  events  of  importance  occurred  at  the  castle  till  1283, 
when  Alphonso,  the  eldest  son  of  Edward,  a  boy  of  much 
promise,  died  there  when  only  ten  years  old. 

The  first  election  of  members  of  Parliament  for  the  borough 
of  Windsor  took  place  during  this  reign. ^  No  additions  to 
the  structure  of  the  castle  were  made  by  either  Edward  I.  or 
Edward  II. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Edward  II.  was  to  cause  Langton, 
Bishop  of  Coventry  and  Lichfield,  then  Treasurer,  to  be 
seized  and  thrown  into  prison,  first  at  Windsor  and  after- 
wards in  the  Tower.  Piers  Gaveston,  lately  recalled  from 
exile  and  created  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  "evil  genius  of  a  weak 
prince,"^  was  doubtless  the  instigator  of  this  arbitrary  act ; 
but  Langton  and  the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  who  had  also 
been  imprisoned,  were  released  at  Christmas,  1309,  when 
Edward  kept  the  feast  "with  great  solemnity"  at  Windsor. 

The  prince  who  was  destined  to  be  Edward  III.  was  born  in 
the  castle,  November  23,  1312,  and  was  christened  four  days 
later  with  due  ceremony  in  the  chapel.     His  godfathers  were 

*  The  burgesses  and  "  knights  of  the  shire  "  were  first  admitted  to  th« 
"  Great  Council  "  in  1295. 

-  Robert  Bruce  declared  that  he  was  "  more  afraid  of  the  bones  of  the 
father  dead  than  of  the  living  son."    Matthew  of  Westminster  :  Chronicle. 


92        ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


Richard,  Bishop  of  Poictiers ;  John,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells ; 
William,  Bishop  of  Worcester  ;  Louis,  Count  d'Evreux;  the 
queen's  brother  John,  Duke  of  Brittany  and  Earl  of  Richmond ; 
Aymer  de  Valence,Earl  of  Pembroke;  and  Hugh  le  Despenser. 
The  queen  Isabella  was  then  only  eighteen  years  old,  though 
she  had  been  married  for  five  years.  The  Count  d'Evreux 
and  other  French  nobles  at  the  Court  were  anxious  that  the 
child  should  receive  the  name  of  Louis,  but  the  English 
godfathers  prevailed,  and  he  was  called  Edward.  It  was 
said  that  the  queen's  influence  at  about  this  time  effected  a 
passing  reconciliation  between  the  king  and  his  barons,  but 
his  constant  struggles  with  them  are  reminiscent  of  the  unrest 
of  his  grandfather's  reign.  It  is  recorded  that  in  1312  he 
was  at  Windsor  for  Christmas  "  with  many  prelates  of  the 
land,"  but  the  peace  was  evanescent. 

In  1327  Edward  was  a  prisoner,  and  the  peers  deposed 
the  king  who  had  "  violated  his  coronation  oath  and  oppressed 
the  Church  and  the  baronage."  It  was  resolved  that  "  the 
reign  of  Edward  of  Carnarvon  had  ceased  and  that  the  crown 
had  passed  to  his  son  Edward  of  Windsor."  In  the  following 
September  the  king  was  murdered  in  Berkeley  Castle. 

The  reign  of  Edward  III.  is  one  of  the  most  important  in 
the  annals  of  Windsor.  Adam  Murimuth,  a  contemporary 
chronicler,  writes  of  this  king  that  "  he  was  of  infinite 
goodness,  and  glorious  among  all  the  great  ones  of  the  world." 
The  king  "  who  in  war  would  freely  hazard  his  own  person, 
raging  like  a  wild  boar  and  crying  *  Ha  St.  Edward !  Ha 
St.  George  ! '  in  peace  would  lead  the  revels  at  Windsor,  clad 
in  white  and  silver,  embroidered  with  the  motto  he  adopted 
in  honour  of  his  wife  : 


Hay,  hay,  the  White  Swan  I 

By  Goddes  soul  I  am  thy  man !  " 


5- 

'-0 


j 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  93 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  enter  into  the  history  of  the  war 
with  Scotland,  and  the  commencement  of  the  devastating  war 
with  France  which  lasted  for  over  a  hundred  years,  though 
it  was  perhaps  to  these  prolonged  hostilities  that  England 
owed  the  chivalry  and  prowess  of  her  knights,  the  splendid 
valour  of  her  archers,  and  some  of  the  inspiration  that  filled 
Chaucer  and  made  him  "  the  Father  of  English  Song."  So 
much  must  be  said  in  endeavouring  to  show  the  state  of  Court 
and  society  that  led  to  the  institution  of  the  most  famous  and 
honourable  of  English  Orders,  "  the  Society  of  St.  George,"  as 
the  Order  of  the  Garter  was  first  called. 

The  visit  of  Robert,  Count  d'Artois,  to  Windsor  in  1336, 
when  he  was  exiled  from  France  and  considered  himself 
unjustly  deprived  of  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy,  was  the  signal 
for  the  beginning  of  hostilities  with  France.  Some  years 
later,  after  the  victories  of  Vannes  and  Crecy,  Edward 
returned  to  Windsor,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  rebuilding 
of  the  castle  and  to  the  splendid  festivities  and  magnificent 
pageantry  that  distinguished  his  Court.  In  1343,  in  imita- 
tion of  King  Arthur,  he  desired  to  hold  a  "  Round  Table." 
Knights  and  esquires,  both  English  and  foreign,  were  invited 
to  assemble  at  Windsor  Castle  on  January  ig,  1344,  when 
the  king  would  hold  "  hastiludes  and  general  jousts." 
Froissart  has  confused  this  revival  of  the  "  Round  Table  " 
with  the  institution  of  the  Garter,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  "  Round  Table "  and  a  "  Knightly  Society  of 
Lincoln,"  established  by  the  king  in  the  same  year,  were 
quite  distinct  and  separate  from  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  which 
was  not  instituted  till  June  or  July,  1348.^ 

Letters  patent  granting  the  foundation  of  the  Collegiate 

*  There  is  no  further  mention  of  the  ''  Round  Table  "'  or  the  Lincoln 
Association  after  the  institution  of  the  "  Garter." 


94        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Chapel  of  St.  George  were  issued  in  August,  1348,  and 
though  the  first  statutes  of  the  Order  had  "  long  since  wholly 
perished  "  even  in  1670,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
chapel  and  the  Order  were  founded  at  the  same  time. 

Many  writers  have  treated  with  contempt  the  romantic 
incident  to  which  the  Order  has  always  been  said  to  owe  its 
familiar  symbol.  The  popular  account  is  that  during  one 
of  the  Court  festivities  at  Windsor  a  lady  happened  to  drop 
her  garter,  a  blue  ribbon,  which  was  picked  up  by  the  king, 
who,  to  save  the  blushes  of  the  owner,  exclaimed,  with  ready 
gallantry,  "  Honi  soit  qui  mal  y  pense  ! "  and,  as  a  further 
sign  of  thinking  no  evil  himself,  bound  it  round  his  own  knee. 
Such  a  story  necessarily  met  with  exaggerated  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  the  ballad-mongers  and  romantic  chroniclers  of 
the  time,  who  endeavoured  to  assign  a  name  to  the  lady,  and 
sentiments  not  altogether  honourable  to  the  king. 

The  earlier  writers  said  that  the  owner  of  the  memorable 
ribbon  was  the  queen  ;  others  invented  or  listened  to  Court 
gossip  and  said  that  it  was  the  Countess  of  Kent  or  the 
Countess  of  Salisbury;  while  Ashmole  and  later  authors 
attempted  to  divest  the  Order  altogether  of  a  "  feminine 
institution."  But  the  legend  is  quite  probable  and  charac- 
teristic of  the  period.  The  lady's  name  is  immaterial.  The 
chivalrous  spirit  of  the  age  and  his  own  knightly  character 
were  enough  to  inspire  the  king's  gallant  speech.  The  queen 
and  her  ladies  were  originally  members  of  the  society ;  the 
wives  of  the  early  Companions  and  some  other  noble  women 
were  termed  "  Dames  de  la  Fraternite  de  St.  George,"  and 
were  even  said  to  have  been  "  received  into  the  Order." 
They  wore  robes  like  the  knights,  "powdered  with  blue 
garters,"  bound  the  symbol  itself  on  their  arms,  and  were 
always   present   at  the  great  festivals.      The  queen,  at  all 


I 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  95 

events,  "  thought  no  evil,"  and  Phihppa  of  Hainault  was 
one  of  the  noblest  of  English  queens.  It  is  curious  that 
neither  the  annals  of  the  Order,  the  contemporary  chroniclers, 
nor  the  pubhc  records  give  any  authentic  information  on 
this  point. 

The  Order  was  divided,  like  the  tilters  at  a  tournament,  into 
two  *'  bands,"  or  companies,  each  originally  consisting  of  twelve 
knights,  with  the  Sovereign  at  the  head  of  one  band  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales  at  the  head  of  the  other.  To  each  of  the 
Companions  a  stall  was  allotted  in  St.  George's  Chapel,  the 
knights  belonging  to  the  Sovereign's  company  on  one  side, 
and  those  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  the  other.  Over  each 
stall  a  canopy  of  carved  oak  supports  the  sword,  helmet,  and 
crest  of  the  knight,  under  a  banner  showing  his  armorial 
bearings ;  a  brass  plate  richly  enamelled,  at  the  back  of 
the  stall,  records  his  name,  style,  and  titles.  These  plates 
remain  always,  but  the  other  insignia  are,  naturally,  changed 
for  each  knight  in  succession.  The  plates  in  themselves 
ought  to  contain  a  perfect  record  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Garter,  but  unfortunately  many  of  them  have  been  stolen  or 
lost.^  Those  that  remain  bear  a  series  of  the  most  famous 
and  distinguished  names  in  history.  With  changed  times 
a  change  has  inevitably  taken  place  in  the  qualifications 
necessary  for  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  and  Sir  Robert  Walpole 
was  the  last  commoner  admitted  to  the  Order. 

The  original  foundation  of  the  chapel  consisted  of  one 
"Custos  "  (called  a  "Dean"  from  1413  onwards),  twenty-four 
Canons,   divided   into    twelve    secular    canons   and   twelve 

»  Vide  W.  H.  St.  John  Hope  :  Stall  Plates  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter. 
One  of  the  plates  lost  since  1749,  that  for  Sir  Charles  Somerset,  Earl  of 
Worcester  (1514-26),  was  lately  recovered  from  a  marine  store  dealer  in 
New  Zealand  and  replaced  in  1898  in  the  stall  from  which  it  had  been 
stolen. 


96        ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

priests  or  vicars,  four  clerks,  six  choristers,  twenty-four 
"  Poor  Knights,"  and  other  officers.^  The  number  of  Canons 
and  of  Poor  Knights  was  shortly  afterwards  increased  to 
twenty-six  each,  to  agree  with  the  also  increased  number  of 
Companions  of  the  Garter.  The  first  Canons  and  Poor 
Knights  were  presented  by  the  first  Knights  of  the  Order, 
but  subsequent  presentations  were  reserved  to  the  royal 
founder  and  his  successors.  In  1352  the  Pope's  delegate 
granted  a  constitution  to  the  chapel,  making  it  free  of 
episcopal  jurisdiction.  A  special  prayer  on  behalf  of  the 
"Most  Noble  Order  of  the  Garter"  is  daily  chanted  in  the 
chapel. 

All  the  chroniclers  vie  with  one  another  in  describing  the 
splendour  of  the  "  feasts  of  St.  George."  Stowe  cites 
Thomasin  la  More,  a  contemporary  writer,  and  thus  describes 
what  he  calls  "  the  first  Feast  of  St.  George,"  in  1350^ : — "  All 
these  (Companions  of  the  Order),  together  with  the  king, 
were  clothed  in  gowns  of  russet  powdered  with  garters  blue, 
wearing  the  like  garters  also  on  their  right  legs,  and  mantles 
of  blue  with  scutcheons  of  St.  George.  In  this  sort  of 
apparel,  they  being  bare-headed,  they  heard  mass,  which  was 
celebrated  by  Simon  Islip,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
the  Bishops  of  Winchester  and  Exeter  ;  and  afterwards  they 
went  to  the  Feast,  setting  themselves  orderly  at  the  table, 
for  the  honour  of  the  Feast,  which  they  named  to  be  of 
St.  George  the  Martyr,  and  the  choosing  of  the  Knights  of 
the  Garter."      The  garter  itself  was,  of  course,  always  blue, 

1  The  "  Poor  Knights  "  (now  called  the  "  Military  Knights"  of  Windsor) 
were  to  be  lodged  and  fed  within  the  castle  walls,  and  "  constantly  to 
serve  God  in  prayer  "  for  their  militant   brethren. 

'^  From  the  "  Letters  Patent "  it  appears  probable  that  the  first  feast 
took  place  a  year  earlier. 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  97 

but  the  first  ribbon  of  the  Order  is  said  to  have  been  blacic ; 
Queen  Elizabeth  changed  it  to  light  blue,  and  George  I.  to 
a  darker  blue.^  It  was  again  changed  by  Queen  Victoria  to 
its  present  shade  of  so-called  "  royal  blue."  The  collar  and 
jewel  were  designed  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  and  the  star 
was  a  device  of  Charles  I.  The  Statutes  of  the  Order  are 
kept  in  the  Chapter  House  at  the  Deanery,  but  in  the  library 
of  the  castle^  some  interesting  relics  have  been  collected, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  a  manuscript  volume  written 
by  Sir  Thomas  Wriothesley,  temp.  Henry  VIII.,  on  "  Matters 
relating  to  the  Garter,"  and  two  manuscript  volumes  of 
Statutes  of  the  Garter  (in  Latin)  as  altered  in  the  time  of 
Edward  VI.,  with  corrections  in  his  handwriting  and  in  that 
of  the  Protector  Somerset.  An  attempt  seems  to  have  been 
made  to  change  the  motto  of  the  Order  to  Verbum  domini 
manet  in  aternum,  and  this  is  corrected  and  the  original  motto 
written  in  the  margin  in  Edward's  own  hand.  There  are 
also,  among  others,  a  contemporary  sketch  of  a  knight  in  his 
Garter  robes,  temp.  Elizabeth ;  a  seal  of  the  Chapter  and  some 
of  the  Heralds'  Registers  of  the  seventeenth  century  ;  the 
small  garter  worn  by  George  IV.  as  a  boy ;  and  the  collar  and 
garter  belonging  to  the  late  King  of  Portugal. 

After  the  first  occasion  recorded  by  Stowe  the  feast  was 
duly  celebrated  every  year  with  increasing  splendour.  In 
1358  the  captive  kings,  David  of  Scotland  and  John  of 
France,  with  his  son  Philip,  were  present,  and  Edward  gave 
the  queen  ;^5oo  (equal  to  nearly  £3,000  in  modern  money)  for 
her  apparel  at  the  feast.     The  Court  had  the  reputation  of 

'  Charles  II.  also  changed  the  colour  to  what  was  called  "  mazarin 
blue  "  in  honour  of  the  Duchesse  de  Mazarin. 

'  The  writer  wishes  to  express  her  indebtedness  to  the  courtesy  of 
Mr.  F"ortescue,  the  librarian  of  the  castle,  for  showing  her  the  library, 
which  is  not  open  to  the  public. 

R.P.  H 


98        ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

being  the  gayest  in  Europe  at  the  time,  and  was  full  of 
French  prisoners  and  hostages  of  noble  birth,  who  were 
treated  as  guests  rather  than  captives,  and  joined  in  all 
knightly  sports  and  amusements.  The  king  and  his  knights 
spent  freely  the  money  gained  by  the  war,  and  the  whole 
scene  was  one  of  much  splendour  and  picturesque  pageantry. 

A  new  chapel  of  St.  George,  with  houses  for  the  Gustos  and 
Canons,  was  begun  shortly  after  the  foundation'of  the  college. 
In  1356  William  of  Wykeham  was  appointed  surveyor  of 
the  works.  Much  of  the  original  building  of  Henry  III.  was 
pulled  down,  and  a  new  domus  regis  was  built  to  the  south 
of  the  keep.  Down  to  this  period  the  castle  had  occupied 
the  site  of  the  present  lower  and  middle  wards,  there  being 
little  or  no  building  east  of  the  keep  or  Round  Tower.  It  is 
difficult  now  to  trace  the  foundations  of  Edward's  castle, 
though  the  building  has  kept  the  character  then  intro- 
duced, and  his  works  remain  as  the  nucleus  of  the  present 
edifice.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  captive  kings  of  France 
and  Scotland  were  shown  the  proposed  site  of  Edward's 
alterations  and  John  suggested  that  the  castle  ought  to  be 
on  the  higher  ground,  a  proposal  carried  out  by  Edward,^ 
who  enlarged  it  from  the  lower  set  of  buildings.  "  King 
John's  Tower"  is  said  to  preserve  the  memory  of  the  French 
king  at  Windsor. 

Wykeham  was  thirty-two  years  old  and  still  at  the 
beginning  of  his  career  when  he  was  appointed  surveyor 
of  the  castle.  The  works  at  Windsor  were  executed  chiefly 
between  1359  and  1374,  but  Wykeham  resigned  his  appoint- 
ment in  1362,  when  he  became  Bishop  of  Winchester.  The 
story  goes  that  he  inscribed  the  sentence  Hoc  fecit  Wykeham 

^  He  is  also  said  to  have  made  the  remark  that  his  captives  should 
pay  for  it. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  99 

on  one  of  the  castle  walls,  and  that  the  king  was  offended, 
thinking  he  meant  to  claim  credit  for  the  whole  building. 
Wykeham  gave  him  the  courtierlike  explanation  that  the 
sentence  should  be  read  as  "  this  made  Wykeham,"  meaning 
that  his  appointment  as  surveyor  had  led  to  his  subsequent 
promotion.     The  answer  is  said  to  have  satisfied  Edward. 

There  are  no  traces  of  the  inscription  now,  but  Sir  Jeffrey 
Wyatville  afterwards  caused  the  words  Hoc  fecit  Wykeham 
to  be  affixed  to  the  Winchester  Tower,  popularly  supposed 
to  be  called  after  him,  though  more  probably  it  derived  the 
name  from  being  assigned  to  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  as 
prelate  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  during  his  residences  at 
Windsor  for  the  festivals  of  the  Order. 

Notwithstanding  the  continual  building  operations,  Edward 
was  constantly  at  Windsor.  He  refused  to  be  present  at 
the  marriage  of  his  son,  Edward  "the  Black  Prince,"  with 
Joan,  Countess  of  Kent,  popularly  known  as  the  "  Fair  Maid 
of  Kent,"  in  St.  George's  Chapel,  October,  1361,  but  the 
queen  and  the  princesses  attended  the  ceremony,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  rite  "was  solemnised  with  pomp  and  noise,"  despite 
the  absence  of  the  king. 

Queen  Philippa  died  at  Windsor  on  August  15,  1369,  and 
the  scene  of  her  death  is  recorded  in  moving  detail  by 
Froissart :  "  the  good  queen  of  England,  that  so  many  good 
deeds  had  done  in  her  time,  and  so  many  knights  succoured 
and  ladies  and  damsels  comforted  .  .  .  she  fell  sick  in  the 
castle  of  Wyndesore,  .  .  .  and  therewas  no  remedy  but  death." 
She  asked  the  king,  who  was  "  right  sorrowfully  weeping," 
to  grant  her  three  desires,  namely,  that  he  should  pay  her 
debts,  that  he  should  fulfil  all  the  charities  she  "  had  promised 
and  made  to  the  Churches,"  and  that  "  it  might  please  the 
king  to  take  none  other  sepulture  whensoever  it  shall  please 

H    2 


loo      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

God  to  call  you  out  of  this  transitory  life,  but  beside  me  in 
Westminster." 

After  the  king  had  assured  her  of  his  willing  consent  to 
these  requests,  she  "  yielded  up  the  spirit,  the  which,"  says 
Froissart  faithfully,  **  I  believe  surely  the  holy  angels  received 
with  great  joy  up  to  heaven,  for  in  all  her  life  she  did  neither 
in  thought,  word  nor  deed,  thing  whereby  to  lose  her  soul,  as 
far  as  any  creature  could  know." 

In  1370  the  Black  Prince  returned  from  the  last  of  his 
many  campaigns  ;  his  health  had  given  way,  and  he  had  to  be 
carried  on  a  litter  across  the  country  from  Southampton  to 
Windsor.  He  remained  there  for  some  time,  but  eventually 
removed  to  Berkhampstead,  where  he  died  about  six  years 
later,  never  having  recovered  his  strength. 

The  second  Richard's  reign  began  among  wars  and  rumours 
of  wars,  but  he  spent  the  Christmas  of  1378  as  usual  at 
Windsor.  In  1380  his  half-sister  Joan  de  Courtney  was 
married  "  with  great  triumphing  "  to  Lord  Valeran,  Earl  of 
St.  Paul's,  in  St.  George's  Chapel,  but  the  following  year 
saw  the  king  at  Windsor  under  less  happy  circumstances. 
During  the  insurrection  headed  by  Wat  Tyler,  Richard  was 
removed  to  the  Tower,  for  greater  safety,  and  was  there  joined 
by  his  mother.  On  June  12, 1381,  the  young  king  met  Tyler 
and  his  followers  by  the  river  and  appointed  a  meeting  with 
them  at  Windsor  the  next  day,  "  where  they  should  have 
sufficient  answer  to  all  their  demands."  Richard  returned  to 
the  Tower,  and  the  meeting  at  Windsor  did  not  take  place, 
as  on  his  way  there  the  next  morning  the  king  met  Tyler 
at  Smithfield,  and  in  a  struggle  between  their  respective 
adherents  Tyler  was  killed  by  the  Mayor  of  London,  and  the 
eady  boldness  of  Richard  enabled  his  followers  to  disperse 
the  mob. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  loi 

The  marriage    of  the    king  to    Anne    de   Luxembourg  of 

Bohemia  was  celebrated  at  Westminster  in  1381,  and  they 

afterwards  proceeded  to  Windsor,  where  "  they  kept  an  open 

and  noble  house."     The  expenditure  of  the  Court  was  lavish, 

exceeding  that  of  the  open-handed  and  generous  Edward  IIL 

John  Hardyng,  a  contemporary  chronicler,  gives  the  following 

account : — 

Trewly,  I  herde  Robert  Trelesse  saie, 

Gierke  of  the  greene  clothe  ;  that  to  the  household 

Come  every  day  for  most  partie  alwaie 

Ten  thousandc  folk,  by  his  messes  told, 

That  followed  the  household  even  as  they  wolde, 

And  in  the  kechen  three  hundred  survytours. 

And  in  each  office  many  occupiers. 

And  ladies  faire  with  their  gentlewomen, 
Chamberers  also  and  lavenders, 
Three  hundreth  were  accounted  of  theym  then  ; 
There  was  grete  pride  among  the  officers, 
And  over  all  men  for  passing  their  compeers, 
Of  riche  arraie  and  much  more  costiouse 
Than  was  before  or  sith  and  more  preciouse. 

Yeomen  and  gromys  in  cloth  of  silk  arraied 
Sateyn  and  damaske  in  doublettes  and  in  gownes, 
In  cloth  of  grayne  and  skarlett  for  unpaied  ; 
Cutt  work  was  grete  both  in  courte  and  townes. 
Both  in  men's  hoddes  and  also  in  their  gownes, 
Broiderie  and  furres,  goldesmyth  werk  aye  newe 
In  many  wise  ech  did  they  renewe. 

''  The  best  memorial  of  Anne  of  Bohemia  is  found  in  Chaucer's 
Legend  of  Goode  Women,  which  he  wrote  on  the  occasion  of 
her  arrival,  he  being  then  a  "  yeoman  of  the  king's 
chamber." 

In  May,  1382,  a  great  council  was  held  at  Windsor,  and  it 
was  decided  that  the  king  himself  should  take  the  command 
of  his  forces  in  France,  but  no  success  attended  his  arms. 

St.  George's  Day,  1386,  was  celebrated  as  usual  at  Windsor, 


I02      ROYAL   PALACES   OF  ENGLAND 

Richard's  Court  being  more  extravagant  and  magnificent 
than  ever,  regardless  of  his  losses  in  France  and  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country.  At  this  time  a  great  number  of  the 
citizens  of  London  arrived  to  present  a  petition  to  the  king, 
complaining  that  they  were  "  unduly  taxed  and  burdened 
with  imposts."  Their  guise  was  somewhat  threatening,  but 
Richard  answered  amicably  and  promised  to  give  them  his 
decision  in  a  week,  so  that  the  conference  ended  peaceably ; 
but  the  king  and  his  people  were  not  in  sympathy. 
In  October  the  ex-Chancellor,  Michael  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of 
Suffolk,  was  impeached  by  the  Commons  and  imprisoned  at 
Windsor,  but  he  was  released  by  order  of  the  king  on  the 
dissolution  of  Parliament. 

The  whole  history  of  Richard's  reign  is  concerned  with  his 
constant  struggles  against  his  uncle,  his  people,  and  more 
especially  against  the  citizens  of  London,  who  were  con- 
stantly asked  to  provide  the  king  with  money.  In  1387 
Richard  was  brought  back  to  Windsor  from  Bristol,  and 
taken  thence  to  London,  practically  as  a  prisoner,  and  some 
sort  of  peace  was  arranged,  so  that  in  1388  he  kept  St. 
George's  Feast  as  usual  at  the  castle. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  circumstances  of  this  reign  at 
Windsor  was  the  appointment  in  1390  of  Geoffrey  Chaucer 
as  clerk  of  the  works,  to  superintend  the  repairs  of  St. 
George's  Chapel.  The  year  before  he  had  been  made 
clerk  of  the  works  at  several  other  places — Westminster,  the 
Tower  of  London,  etc.  The  commission  to  repair  St. 
George's  Chapel,  dated  July  12,  1390,  shows  that  it  was  in 
a  ruinous  condition.  Chaucer  was  empowered  to  "  impress  " 
masons,  carpenters,  and  other  workmen  and  labourers,  and 
to  "seize"  materials  of  every  description  with  "carriages  for 
the     same,"    and — significantly — to    imprison    "  refractory 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  103 

persons."  ^  The  chapel  had  only  been  completed  within  the 
last  forty  years,  and  it  is  sugj^csted  that  some  radical  failure 
in  the  foundations  or  construction  must  have  become 
apparent  to  call  for  such  stringent  measures  without  delay. 
Chaucer  only  held  the  appointment  for  about  twenty  months, 
though  the  works  were  still  being  carried  on  when  he  retired. 
He  received  payment  as  "late  clerk  of  the  works"  till  1393. 

Chaucer  was  well  known  about  the  Court,  as  he  had  been 
originally  in  the  employment  of  John  of  Gaunt, "time-honoured 
Lancaster,"  and  in  1367  had  been  appointed  a  yeoman  of 
the  chamber  to  Edward  III.,  and,  five  years  later,  a  squire 
of  the  royal  household.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "  the 
Court  was  all  that  the  poet  could  desire  as  a  school  of 
worldly  manners,  of  human  passion  and  character,  and  of 
gorgeous  pageantry."  ^ 

Richard  did  not  stay  long  at  any  one  of  his  castles. 
Froissart,  who  was  also  much  about  the  Court,  wrote :  "  I 
remained  in  the  household  of  the  King  of  England  as  long 
as  I  pleased,  .  .  .  but  I  was  not  always  in  the  same  place, 
for  the  king  frequently  changed  his  abode." 

The  year  1396  was  marked  at  Windsor  by  the  return  of 
Richard's  ambassadors  from  France,  where  they  had  gone  to 
make  proposals  of  marriage  for  the  Princess  Isabella  of 
Valois,  a  child  of  ten  years  old,  on  behalf  of  the  king.  It  is 
said  that  Richard  "  w^as  much  pleased  by  their  answers." 

In  the  following  year  took  place  the  memorable  "  appeal 
of  high  treason  "  by  the  Duke  of  Hereford,  afterwards 
Henry  IV.,  against  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  They  w^ere  cited 
to  appear  before  the  king  at  a  meeting  of  Parliament  held 

'  They  were  the  usual  powers  granted  in  all  similar  appointments  at 
this  date,  and  Wykeham  had  had  the  same. 
"  Coulton  :  Chaucer  and  his  England,  31  ct  siq. 


I04      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

at  Shrewsbury,  where,  after  some  high  words  had  passed 
between  them,  they  were  both  arrested  by  the  Earl  Marshal, 
the  Duke  of  Surrey.  Hereford  found  sureties,  but  Norfolk 
was  sent  to  Windsor  with  a  guard.  The  two  dukes  were 
then  referred  to  "  a  high  court  of  chivalry  "  to  be  held  before 
the  king  at  Coventry.  Norfolk  was  allowed  to  have  master 
armourers  at  Windsor,  "  as  many  as  he  pleased,"  to  make 
his  armour  for  the  occasion.  He  demanded  "trial  of  battle 
in  tournament,"  and  the  lists  were  opened  at  Coventry,  but 
at  the  last  moment  the  king  prevented  the  encounter, 
banished  the  Duke  of  Hereford  for  ten  years,  and  Norfolk  for 
life.  They  both  came  to  make  their  final  farewells  to  the 
king  and  queen  at  Windsor  in  October,  1398. 

The  Duke  of  Norfolk  is  said  to  have  died  **  of  a  broken 
heart "  at  Venice  in  1399.  Hereford  became  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  the  same  year,  and  returned  to 
England,  where  he  was  received  with  acclamations,  succeeded 
in  causing  Richard  to  be  deposed,  and  was  himself  crowned 
king,  as  Henry  IV.,  on  the  first  anniversary  of  the  day  on 
which  he  had  gone  into  banishment. 

Froissart  says  that  Richard's  last  tournament,  held  at 
Windsor  to  celebrate  St.  George's  Feast  in  1399,  was  but  ill 
attended.  Forty  knights  and  squires,  clad  in  green,  with 
the  queen's  device  of  a  white  falcon  on  their  breasts,  were 
proclaimed  "  to  hold  their  own  against  all  comers,"  and 
*'  the  queen  was  indeed  present,  in  magnificent  array,  but 
very  few  of  the  barons  attended."  Richard  had  offended 
them  all  too  deeply.  A  contemporary  chronicler,  probably 
a  Frenchman  in  the  queen's  train,  has  left  a  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  parting  of  the  king  and  the  young  queen  on 
April  25,  1399.  The  queen,  it  must  be  remembered,  was 
only  eleven  years  old,  and  Richard,  though  he  made  **  such 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  105 

show  of  love  and  affection,"  as  deeply  impressed  the 
chronicler,  had  already  arranged  for  the  dismissal  of  Isabella's 
most  familiar  friend  and  governess,  Madame  de  Coucy,  who 
had  come  with  her  from  France.  She  was  left  in  the  care 
of  the  Duke  of  York  at  Windsor,  but  was  soon  removed  to 
Wallingford,  for  greater  safety.  Richard  never  returned  to 
the  castle  or  saw  his  queen  again  after  this  departure. 

Windsor  surrendered  to  Henry  of  Bolingbroke  "  on  a  blast 
of  trumpets."  He  kept  his  first  Christmas  as  king  in  great 
state  in  the  castle,  having  sent  out  commands  to  all  the  lords 
"to  attend  the  feast  of  the  new  king  at  his  castle  of 
Windsor."  No  less  than  fourteen  "  princes  of  the  blood  " 
rode  in  his  train  on  New  Year's  Day,  and  these  royal  and 
noble  followers  of  the  king  are  said  to  have  "  worn  the  king's 
colours,  to  have  dressed  as  he  dressed,  thought  as  he 
thought,"  but  some  of  them  were  already  plotting  against 
him  while  they  rode  and  feasted  with  him  at  Windsor. 

On  New  Year's  Day  a  petition  was  brought  to  him  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbur}',  the  king's  uncle,  Edward,  Duke 
of  York,  and  many  others,  representing  that  the  safety  and 
welfare  of  the  realm  required  that  an  end  should  be  made  of 
the  life  of  Richard,  but  Henry  refused  to  take  any  action, 
except  it  were  agreed  upon  "  in  open  parliament." 

On  January  2  the  lords  left  Windsor,  "  to  prepare  for  the 
tournament "  which  was  shortly  to  take  place.  A  plot  had 
been  formed  by  the  Earls  of  Rutland,  Huntingdon,  Kent, 
Salisbury,  and  others  to  take  Windsor  by  surprise,  murder 
Henry  and  his  young  sons,  and  restore  either  Richard  or 
the  Earl  of  March,  who  was  the  legal  heir,  to  the  throne. 
The  conspirators  were  to  assemble  their  men-at-arms  and 
convey  them  secretly  to  Windsor  in  covered  carts,  such 
carts  as  were  used  for  the  carriage  of  arms  and  mail    for 


io6      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

tournaments.  They  were  to  be  marked  with  the  names  of 
various  lords  who  were  expected  at  Windsor,  and  who  would 
thus  be  allowed  to  enter  the  castle.  Huntingdon,  Kent,  and 
Salisbury  were  to  arrive  in  the  usual  manner  as  guests,  but 
at  night  they  were  to  rise  and  kill  the  king  and  his  sons  before 
they  could  arm.  At  a  given  signal  the  men  hidden  in  the 
carts  were  to  rush  out  and  kill  every  one  in  royal  livery. 

On  Sunday  morning  the  royal  family  attended  mass  in  the 
Chapel  of  St.  George,  and  the  conspirators  assembled  at 
Kingston,  whence  the  carts  were  to  start,  the  rest  marching 
secretly  to  Staines  and  Colnbrook,  to  cut  off  any  possible 
retreat  from  "Windsor  to  London. 

The  plot  was  betrayed  by  Rutland,  either  in  pity  or  from 
infirmity  of  purpose,  to  his  father,  the  Duke  of  York,  who  at 
once  started  for  Windsor  with  an  incriminating  document, 
signed  by  all  the  conspirators,  given  to  him  by  his  son. 
Rutland,  however,  outstripped  his  father  and  made  his  own 
confession.  Henry  immediately  left  Windsor,  taking  with  him 
his  four  sons  and  three  other  followers.  They  rode  safely 
through  bypaths  to  London,  where  they  were  received 
joyfully  by  the  citizens,  and  Henry  was  able  in  very  few 
days  to  enroll  an  army  of  16,000  men. 

Meanwhile  Rutland  had  returned  to  his  colleagues,  who 
knew  nothing  of  the  king's  escape.  Huntingdon  marched 
on  Windsor,  forced  the  castle  gates,  and  entered  the  king's 
house.  He  searched  the  building,  left  his  men  in  possession, 
and  returned  to  his  fellow  conspirators  at  Colnbrook.  His 
followers  are  said  to  have  absolutely  wrecked  the  castle,  break- 
ing up  the  furniture  and  carrying  off  plate  and  valuables. 

The  end  of  this  rebellion  is  well  known,  and  all  the  leaders 
were  killed. 

A  story  is  told  of  another   attempt   on    Henry's    life   at 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  107 

Windsor,  a  "  caltrappc  "  having  been  put  in  his  bed  by  a 
member  of  the  late  king's  household. 

Henry's  tenure  of  the  throne  was  never  very  secure :  in 
1405  Lady  Despenser,  whose  husband  had  been  killed  in  the 
Huntingdon  and  Kent  conspiracy,  undertook  to  release  the 
young  Earl  of  March  and  his  brother,  who  were  in  captivity 
at  Windsor.  They  were  to  be  taken  to  Wales,  where  Owen 
Glendower  was  in  arms  against  the  king.  Lady  Despenser 
obtained  false  keys  and  escaped  with  the  boys,  but  only  as 
far  as  the  Chiltern  Woods,  where  they  were  re-captured  and 
taken  back  to  Windsor.  She  accused  her  brother,  the  Earl 
of  Rutland,  of  being  the  instigator  of  this  plot,  and  he  was 
confined  in  Pevensey  Castle  for  three  months,  his  estates  being 
confiscated  to  the  Crown.  Both  he  and  Lady  Despenser 
were  eventually  pardoned  and  their  former  honours  restored 
to  them,  "  bot,"  says  Stowe,  "  ye  smythe  for  makyng  ye  keyes 
lost  fyrst  his  handes,  after  his  hed."  Thus  was  justice 
satisfied. 

A  solemn  council  was  held  at  Windsor  towards  the  end  of 
this  reign  to  decide  if  Edmund  de  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March, 
the  legal  heir  to  the  throne,  might  be  permitted  to  marry 
Lady  Anne  Stafford,  his  cousin.  Permission  to  marry  was 
refused  to  them  at  this  time,  on  account  of  their  nearness  to 
the  succession,  but  it  was  subsequently  granted  to  them  after 
the  accession  of  Henry  V. 

Henry  IV.  died  at  Westminster  in  March,  1413,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Henry  of  Monmouth,  the  most  romantic 
and  popular  figure  among  all  the  Plantagenet  Kings  of 
England.  He  began  his  reign  at  Windsor  by  setting  at 
liberty  the  Earl  of  March  and  giving  consent  to  his  marriage. 
His  confidence  was  well-founded,  for  March  remained  loyal 
always. 


io8      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Another  royal  prisoner  at  Windsor,  as  romantic  a  figure 
as  Henry  himself,  was  James  I.,  King  of  Scotland,  who  had 
been  in  captivity  in  England  since  he  was  fourteen  years  old. 
He  was  imprisoned  at  first  in  Pevensey  Castle,  and  was  sent 
from  there  to  the  Tower,  but  on  the  accession  of  Henry  V. 
was  removed  to  Windsor,  where  he  remained  for  eleven 
years.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  the  castle  an  attempt  to 
release  him  by  means  of  false  keys  was  made  by  Thomas 
Payne,  a  Welsh  priest,  but  his  plot  was  discovered  in  time. 

The  story  of  the  Scottish  king's  romantic  attachment  to 
Joanna  Beaufort,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Somerset,  who  after- 
wards became  his  wife,  is  well  known.  He  was  imprisoned  in 
the  "Maids  of  Honour's"  Tower,  called  also  the  "Devil's 
Tower,"  and  originally  the  "  Earl  Marshal's  Tower,"  on  the 
south  side  of  the  castle,  south-east  of  the  Round  Tower, 
from  the  windows  of  which  he  could  look  into  the  garden 
below,  and  there  for  the  first  time  he  saw  Joanna,  walking 
by  herself.  His  own  words  from  The  King's  Quair  best 
describe  the  garden  : — 

Now  was  there  maid,  just  by  the  Touris  wall, 

A  gardyn  faire,  and  in  the  corneris  set, 
Ane  herbere  grene,  with  wandis  long  and  small, 

Railit  about,  and  so  with  treis  set 

Was  all  the  place,  and  hawthorn  hegis  knet, 
That  lyt  was  non,  walkyng  there  forbye. 

That  myght  within  scarce  any  wight  aspye. 

So  thick  the  bevis  and  the  leves  grene, 

Beschadit  all  the  allyes  that  there  were, 
And  myddis  every  herbere  might  be  sene 

The  scharp  grene  suete  jenepere, 

Growing  so  fair,  with  branches  here  and  there, 
That,  as  it  semyt  to  a  lyf  without, 

The  bevis  spred  the  herbere  all  about. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  log 

And  on  the  small  grene  twistis  set 

The  lytil  suete  nightingale,  and  song 
So  loud  and  clere  the  ympnis  consecrat 

Of  luvis  use,  now  soft,  now  lowd  among 

That  all  the  gardynis  and  the  wallis  rong 
Rycht  of  thaire  song. 

It  is  best  also  to  give  his  own  description  of  Joanna,  as  he 
first  saw  her  walking  in  the  garden : 

Her  golden  hair  and  rich  attire 
In  fretwise  couched  with  pearly  white, 
And  great  balls  levening  as  the  fire, 
With  many  an  emerald  and  fair  saphire; 
And  on  her  head  a  chaplet  fresh  of  hue 
Of  plumis  parted  red,  and  white  and  blue. 

According  to  Stowe,  Queen  Katherine  encouraged  this 
romantic  attachment,  and  the  lovers  were  betrothed  at  the 
queen's  coronation  festival. 

In  142 1  James  was  knighted  at  Windsor  on  St.  George's 
Day,  and  consented  to  serve  with  the  English  army  in  France, 
on  condition  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  visit  his  own 
country  three  months  after  his  return.  He  left  Windsor 
with  Henry  in  June,  1421,  after  sixteen  years'  captivity;  but 
Henry  died  in  the  following  year,  and  James  did  not  go  back 
to  Scotland  until  his  ransom  was  finally  paid  in  1424. 

In  August,  1413,  Windsor  Castle  was  the  scene  of  a  dis- 
cussion that  might  have  furnished  a  theme  for  Shakespeare. 
Sir  John  Oldcastle,  usually  known  as  Lord  Cobham,^  who  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  prototype  of  Sir  John  Falstaff  in 
the  plays  of  Henry  IV.  and  the  Merry  Wives,  the  companion 
of  Henry  V.  in  the  wild  pranks  of  his  youth,  had  become  an 
important  member  of  the  sect    known  as  the  "  Lollards." 

■  He  had  married  Joan  de  la  Pole,  the  only  child  of  Lord  Cobham  of 
Cowling  Castle,  near  Rochester,  and,  being  summoned  to  Parliament  as 
her  representative,  was  commonly  known  as  Lord  Cobham. 


no      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


Tracts,  obnoxious  to  the  Church  and  the  clergy,  had  been 
issued  from  his  house,  and  Henry  Chicheley,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  denounced  Oldcastle  to  the  king.  It  is  said  that 
the  tracts  were  read  to  Henry  in  his  own  closet  at  Windsor, 
in  the  presence  of  Sir  John.  He  seems  to  have  denied  any 
share  in  the  production  of  the  tracts  and  joined  in  their 
condemnation.  All  the  bishops  afterwards  waited  on  Henry 
and  represented  to  him  the  gravity  of  the  case,  but  the  king 
desired  them  to  give  him  time  to  enter  into  argument  with 
his  friend.  He  was  not  successful  as  a  controversialist,  and 
seems  to  have  descended  from  argument  to  threats,  meant,  no 
doubt,  as  a  warning  for  Oldcastle,  but  he  only  withdrew  to 
his  own  house  at  Cowling.  He  was  afterwards  convicted 
of  heresy  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  but  was  allowed  to 
escape,  and  the  rest  of  his  history  is  mysterious,  though  he 
was  certainly  implicated  in  the  Lollard  revolts.  Four  years 
later  he  was  taken  prisoner  in  Wales,  during  the  absence  of 
Henry  in  France,  and  without  the  king's  knowledge  was 
burnt  at  the  stake  as  a  heretic — a  tragic  end  for  Shakespeare's 
"fat  knight,"  though  it  has  been  argued  that  Shakespeare 
was  misinformed  as  to  the  real  character  of  Sir  John 
Oldcastle. 

After  Agincourt  (1415)  all  the  French  prisoners  of  royal  or 
noble  blood  were  sent  to  Windsor,  and  the  list  included  the 
Dukes  of  Orleans  and  Bourbon,  the  Counts  d'Eu  and  de 
Vendome,  the  Earl  of  Richmond,^  and  Boucicault,  Marshal 
of  France. 

Henry  had  a  list  drawn  up  of  all  the  knights  who  had 

I  Arthur,  Earl  of  Richmond,  was  the  son  of  the  king's  stepmother, 
Joanna  of  Castile.  It  is  said  that  on  his  arrival  at  the  castle  as  a 
prisoner  he  was  brought  into  the  room  where  the  queen  and  her  ladies 
were  assembled,  and  failed  to  recognise  his  mother,  to  her  great  chagrin. 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  iii 

fought  beside  him  at  Agincourt,  and  is  said  to  have  always 
filled  up  the  roll  of  the  Garter  from  among  them.  He 
revived  with  all  their  pristine  magnificence  the  festivals  of 
St.  George,  the  tournamentsand  "  hastiludes  "  of  Edward  III. 
He  was  also  a  great  hunter,  and  so  fleet  of  foot  that  it  was 
said  he  could  "capture  the  deer  without  the  aid  of  dogs." 

In  1416  the  Emperor  Sigismund  of  Germany  was  present 
at  the  Feast  of  St.  George,  and  was  created  a  Companion  of 
the  Garter.  He  brought  with  him  a  relic,  the  supposed 
heart  of  St.  George,  which  was  preserved  in  the  chapel  till 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  The  name-plate  of  Sigismund 
still  remains  in  the  chapel. 

Contemporary  accounts  of  this  feast  declare  that  "  the 
finery  of  the  guests,  the  order  of  the  servants,  the  variety  of 
the  courses,  the  invention  of  the  dishes,  with  the  other  things 
delightful  to  the  sight  and  taste,  whoever  should  endeavour 
to  describe  would  never  do  it  justice."  A  new  entertainment 
on  this  occasion  was  the  display  of  "  Soteltes  "  (devices) 
before  the  king  and  the  Emperor  :  "  Oure  Lady  armyng 
Seint  George,  and  an  angel  doying  on  his  spores;  Seint 
George  ridyng  and  fightyng  with  the  dragon,  with  his  spere 
in  his  hand  ;  .  .  .  a  castel  and  Seint  George  and  the  kynges 
doughter  ledynge  the  lambe  in  at  the  castle  gates." 
Sigismund  brought  with  him  a  suite  of  over  a  thousand 
persons,  so  that  the  king  had  to  ask  the  dean  and  canons  to 
make  room  for  them  at  Windsor.  The  Emperor  looked  upon 
himself  as  the  arbitrator  of  affairs  in  Europe,  and  desired  to 
impose  on  Henry  a  peace  with  France.  Eventually  he  was 
compelled  to  buy  his  way  out  of  England,  by  signing  a  treaty 
with  Henry,  by  no  means  in  favour  of  France,  but  on  his 
return  to  Germany  he  refused  to  observe  the  terms  of  the 
agreement. 


112      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

After  the  coronation  of  the  king  and  queen  at  Westminster 
in  1421,  they  retired  for  a  short  time  to  Windsor,  and  at  the 
Feast  of  St.  George,  held  on  May  3,  the  king  made  some 
alterations  and  improvements  in  the  ceremonial  and  statutes 
of  the  Order.  Ashmole  styles  Henry  V.  "  the  happy  restorer 
of  the  honour  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,"  he  having  found 
"  its  glory  upon  abatement." 

On  December  6  the  same  year  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales, 
afterwards  Henry  VI.,  was  born  at  Windsor,  and  was  baptized 
in  the  chapel  by  Chicheley,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  John, 
Duke  of  Bedford,  Lord  Warden  of  England,  and  Henry, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  his  uncles,  were  his  godfathers 
and  were  present  at  the  ceremony,  as  was  also  his  god- 
mother, the  notorious  Jacqueline,  Countess  of  Holland  and 
Duchess  of  Brabant.  The  king  was  absent  at  the  siege  of 
Meaux,  and  is  said  to  have  heard  some  prophecy  which  had 
made  him  unwilling  that  his  heir  should  be  born  at  Windsor. 
"  I,  Henry,  born  at  Monmouth,  shall  small  time  reign  and 
much  get ;  and  Henry,  born  at  Windsor,  shall  long  reign 
and  all  lose — but  as  God  will,  so  be  it."  He  is  reported  to 
have  said  this,  and  in  effect  he  only  lived  for  seven  months 
after  the  birth  of  his  son,  and  died  at  Vincennes,  August  31 
1422. 

After  Edward  HI.,  Henry  V.  is  certainly  the  most  attrac- 
tive and  picturesque  figure  among  the  early  Kings  of  England 
at  Windsor. 

The  history  of  Henry  VL  might  be  summed  up  in  the 

saying, 

Henry,  "  him  "  of  holy  birth, 

"  Him"  to  whom  his  Windsor  gave 

Nativity  and  name  and  grave. 

The  little  king  of  nine  months  old,  who  was  presented  to 
his  council  at  Windsor  by  his  uncle  Humphrey,  Duke  of 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  113 

Gloucester,  inherited  the  characteristics  of  his  grandfather 
Charles  VI.,  who  was  the  ruin  of  France,  and  repeated  his 
history  in  the  ruin  of  England. 

The  Great  Seal  of  England  "  in  a  purse  of  white  leather, 
sealed  with  the  Chancellor's  seal,"  was  delivered  to  the  infant 
king  at  Windsor  on  September  28,  1422,  "  at  the  hour  of 
vespers,  in  the  chamber  of  the  king."  The  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  the  bishops,  and  the  great  lords  who  were  pre- 
sent "  did  fealty  and  homage,"  and  the  Great  Seal  was 
eventually  delivered  to  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  as  Protector, 
in  November  "  in  full  Parliament."  The  writs  for  the  first 
Parliament  of  Henry  VI.  bade  the  members  assemble  at 
**  Wyndesore,"  but  they  eventually  met  in  London. 

In  February,  1424,  James  VI.  of  Scotland  was  married  to 
Lady  Joanna  Beaufort  at  Windsor,  and  in  April  they  returned 
to  Edinburgh. 

Richard,  Duke  of  York  (the  father  of  Edward  IV.),  the  legal 
heir  to  the  throne,  who  was  about  ten  years  older  than  Henry, 
was  educated  with  him  at  Windsor,  where  he  remained 
during  his  minority.  The  quarrels  of  his  uncles  Humphrey, 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  and  Cardinal  Beaufort  do  not  seem  to 
have  affected  the  history  of  the  castle.  The  Duke  of 
Gloucester  attempted  to  deprive  Beaufort  of  the  see  of 
Winchester,  and  incidentally  of  the  prelacy  of  the  Order  of 
the  Garter,  but  Beaufort  retained  the  see,  and  received  the 
annual  livery  of  robes  for  the  Feast  of  St.  George  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death. 

In  1431  Margery  Jourdemain,  the  famous  "  Witch  of 
Eye,"  with  two  priests  who  were  accused  of  being  her  con- 
federates in  sorcery,  were  imprisoned  in  the  castle,  but  were 
afterwards  released.  The  "  Witch  of  Eye"  was  subsequently 
involved    in   the   celebrated   charge   of  witchcraft    brought 

R.P.  I 


114      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

against  "Dame  Eleanor  Cobham,"  the  Duchess  of  Gloucester, 
in  1441,  and  was  burnt  at  the  stake  in  Smithlield.^ 

The  marriage  of  Henry  and  Margaret  of  Anjou  took  place 
in  April,  1445.  In  October,  1453,  while  they  were  at 
"Windsor,  the  mental  weakness  of  the  king  became  too 
much  marked  for  further  concealment,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  appoint  a  "  Council  of  Regency."  The  council  went  to 
Windsor  to  see  the  "  kynges  highnesse,  but  they  cowlde  get 
noo  answere  ne  signe."  Nothing  could  move  him  from  the 
state  of  apathy,  almost  of  insensibility,  into  which  he  had 
fallen.  In  November  the  king's  first  son,  Edward,  was  born, 
and  in  January  he  was  brought  to  the  castle  in  the  hope  that 
his  father  might  be  roused  to  take  some  interest  in  him,  but 
Henry  was  still  sitting  "  like  a  statue,  unable  to  move, 
to  speak  or  to  hear."  The  Duke  of  York  was  appointed 
Protector. 

The  rest  of  Henry's  history  is  only  a  record  of  his  fluc- 
tuating state  of  mental  and  physical  health,  and  the  kingdom 
was  constantly  plunged  into  civil  war  by  the  followers  of  the 
"  White  Rose  "  and  the  "  Red." 

Windsor  was  more  than  once  the  scene  of  affrays  between 
partisans  of  the  opposing  factions. 

In  March,  1461,  Henry  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  and 
Edward,  son  of  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  was  proclaimed  king 
as  Edward  IV. 

Henry  VL  will  always  be  remembered  as  the  "  Pious 
Founder  "  of  Eton  College.  The  charter  of  foundation  was 
dated  "at  the  king's  manor  of  Shene,"  October  11,  1441. 
Permission  was  granted  to  the  Provost  and  Fellows  and  their 
successors  for  ever  to  be  called  "the  Provost  and  Royal 

1  The  Duchess  of  Gloucester  herself  had  to  do  public  penance  in  a 
white  sheet,  and  was  afterwards  exiled  to  the  Isle  of  Man. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  115 

College  of  the  Blessed  Mary  of  Eton  juxta  Wyndcsores." 
A  Bull  was  afterwards  obtained  from  Pope  Eugenius  IV. 
authorising  the  king  to  "  found  and  endow  his  college." 
Building  commenced  in  1441,  the  first  stone  of  the  chapel 
being  laid  on  July  3,  1442.  The  accounts  for  the  building, 
made  by  John  Hampton  the  surveyor,  are  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  college.  Statutes  were  drawn  up  in  1448, 
and  in  that  year  William  Waynflete,  Provost,  and  the  first 
Fellows,  clerks,  and  other  members  of  the  college  were 
sworn  in.  Mr.  A.  F.  Leach  has  called  attention  to  a  more 
complete  body  of  statutes  prepared  by  the  founder  in  1446.^ 

Edward  IV.  assumed  the  title  of  king  after  his  victory  over 
the  Lancastrians  at  Towton  Field,  near  Tadcaster,  although 
the  Royalists  preserved  some  hopes  until  the  young  prince 
Edward,  son  of  Henry  VI.,  was  killed  at  Tewkesbury. 

A  plot  to  assassinate  Edward  and  to  restore  Henry  was 
formed  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
and  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  during  an  entertainment  which 
was  to  be  given  at  the  Moor  in  Hertfordshire,  the  seat  of  the 
Archbishop.  The  king  was  warned  in  time  and  rode  to 
Windsor,  reached  London,  and  marched  against  Clarence 
and  Warwick.  Three  years  later  the  archbishop  was 
unexpectedly  commanded  to  attend  the  king  at  Windsor, 
but  on  his  arrival  he  was  arrested,  impeached  of  high  treason, 
and  sent  into  exile  abroad. 

In  1472  great  festivities  took  place  at  the  castle  in  honour 
of  Louis  de  Bruges,  Seigneur  de  la  Gruthwyse,  Governor  of 
Holland  under  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  A  contemporary 
description  is  still  extant,  given  by  a  herald  who  was  pro- 
bably an  eye-witness.     He  was  evidently  much  impressed  by 

*  Victoria  County  History  Bucks.,  ii.,  "  Schools.'' 

I    2 


ii6      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  richness  of  the  rooms,  "  hanged  with  cloth  of  arras,"  the 
"  beddes  of  estate,"  and  the  series  of  amusements,  games, 
dancing,  banqueting  and  hunting. 

The  most  important  act  in  this  reign  concerning  Windsor 
was  the  erection  of  the  existing  Chapel  of  St.  George. 
Richard  Beauchamp,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  was  appointed 
surveyor;  he  was  given  a  free  hand  as  to  the  removal  of 
impediments  and  demoHshment  of  old  houses.  The  "Clevre 
ys  toure  "  "  Le  Amener  ys  toure,"  and  "  Bazner  ys  toure  " 
were  all  swept  away,  with  the  original  houses  for  the  dean 
and  canons,  built  by  Henry  IIL  These  towers  probably 
completed  the  line  of  defence  on  the  north  side  of  the  castle. 
The  chapter  house  was  also  rebuilt,  and  new  houses  for  the 
dean  and  canons.  The  king  had  a  "  singular  respect  and 
favour  for  the  chapel,"  and  added  considerably  to  its  endow- 
ments, to  which  he  wished  to  add  further  the  endowment  of 
Eton.  He  obtained  a  Bull  from  the  Pope,  Pius  H.,  to  dis- 
solve the  college,  but  William  Westbury,  then  Provost, 
exerted  himself  effectually  to  prevent  this  disaster,  and  thus 
remains  for  ever  clarum  et  venerabile  nomen  to  all  Etonians. 

Edward  did  not  live  to  see  the  completion  of  his  great 
building;  he  died  at  Westminster,  April,  1483,  and,  according 
to  the  directions  of  his  will,  was  interred  at  Windsor,  his 
funeral  cortege  proceeding  by  water,  "  with  great  funereal 
honour  and  heaviness  of  his  people,"  says  Holinshed.  The 
king  was  buried  "under  a  large  stone  raised  within  the  upper- 
most arch,  at  the  north  side  of  the  altar.  Over  this  arch 
hung  the  king's  coat  of  mail,  covered  over  with  crimson 
velvet,  and  thereon  the  arms  of  France  and  England 
quarterly,  richly  embroidered  with  pearl  and  gold,  inter- 
woven with  divers  rubies."  It  remained  above  his  grave 
until  October  23,  1642,  when  the  chapel  was  plundered  by  a 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  117 

certain  Captain  Fogg,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  ParHamcntary 
forces.  Edward  had  given  directions  for  a  monument  of  great 
splendour  to  be  prepared  for  his  tomb,  but  in  the  unquiet 
times  that  followed  his  death  the  monument  was  not  com- 
pleted ;  but  the  chapel  itself  is  the  best  memorial  of  its  builder. 
An  elaborate  screen  of  wrought  iron  was  erected  in  front  of 
the  entrance  to  his  vault,  and  remained  there  till  1789,  when 
it  was  removed,  and  another  monument  in  memory  of 
Edward  erected  in  its  place.^  Elizabeth  Woodville,  the 
widow  of  Edward,  was  interred  with  her  husband  in  1492. 
Lord  Hastings,  who  had  been  his  favourite  friend  and  chief 
adviser,  was  beheaded  at  the  Tower  in  14S3,  on  a  charge  of 
high  treason  against  the  usurper  Richard  III.,  and  was  buried 
at  Windsor,  *'  his  bodie  with  his  head  .  .  .  beside  the  tomb 
of  King  Edward."  His  widow  and  son  subsequently  built 
and  endowed  "  the  Hastings  Chapel." 

Of  Richard  III.  at  Windsor  there  are  few  records.  After 
his  coronation,  with  his  queen,  in  July,  1483,  they  went  to 
the  castle  for  a  short  time,  and  thence  proceeded  on  a  royal 
progress,  "  with  great  festivities  "  throughout  the  kingdom. 
In  1484  he  caused  the  body  of  Henry  VI.  to  be  removed 
from  Chertsey  and  interred  in  St.  George's  Chapel,  "  on  the 
south  side  of  the  altar."  ^  This  was  probably  done  with  an 
idea  of  attracting  to  Windsor  the  crowd  of  pilgrims  that 
visited  the  tomb  of  the  saintly  king,  and  numerous  miracles 
are  reported  to  have  taken  place  after  the  removal.^  Sand- 
ford,  writing  in  1676,  says  that  Henry  was  buried  "  under  a 


'  The  coffin  of  Edward  was  found  and  opened  in  1789. 

*  Opposite  the  tomb  of  Edward  IV. 

'  The  wonderful  state  of  preservation  in  which  the  king's  body  was 
found  was  attributed  to  his  saintly  character.  It  had  evidently  been 
embalmed. 


ii8      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

fair  monument,  of  which  there  are  at  present  no  remains," 
but  in  the  keystone  of  the  roof  over  his  grave  his  arms  w^ere 
sculptured,  and  can  still  be  seen.^  In  1789,  when  alterations 
were  being  made  in  the  chapel,  the  entrance  to  his  vault 
was  found,  but  was  not  opened.  Richard  appears  to  have 
continued  the  building  that  had  been  begun  in  the  preceding 
reign. 

With  the  accession  of  Henry  VII.  a  new  era  of  internal 
peace  and  prosperity  was  inaugurated  for  England.  The 
rival  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  were  at  last  united  by 
the  marriage  of  Henry  with  Elizabeth  of  York,  and  the 
terrible  Wars  of  the  Roses  were  over.  The  king's  often 
illegal  and  unjust  extortions  led  to  numerous  revolts  during 
his  reign,  but  they  were  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  affect 
the  great  intellectual  movement  that  began  at  this  period 
and  is  known  as  "  the  English  Renaissance."  Henry's  own 
tastes  were  literary  and  artistic ;  he  encouraged  the  new 
printing  press,  and  patronised  architecture  and  painting. 
Among  numerous  interesting  specimens  of  books  from  the 
libraries  of  many  English  kings  which  are  now  in  the  king's 
library  at  Windsor  is  an  exceedingly  rare  volume  from  that 
of  Henry  VII. — a  small  MS.  folio,  partly  in  Latin  and  partly 
in  English,  the  indenture  of  an  agreement  between  the  king 
and  the  prior  of  St.  Swithin,  Winchester. 

The  kings  who  had  hitherto  inhabited  Windsor  were,  or 
should  have  been,  warriors  and  statesmen.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Henry  III.,  none  of  them  had  shown  any  personal 
taste  for  the  arts,  though  as  a  matter  of  policy,  to  further 
their  own  aggrandisement,  or  as  a  demonstration  of  religious 
fervour,     they    had    sometimes     employed    and    rewarded 

Wyatville :  Illus.  of  Windsor.     Poynter's  introduction. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  119 

great  architects  and  builders.  In  studying  the  history  of 
Windsor  Castle  this  new  aspect  of  English  life  must  not  be 
forgotten. 

The  Court  of  Henry  VII.  was  less  splendid  than  that  of 
his  son  became  afterwards,  but  there  is  a  record  of  St.  George's 
Day,  1488,  when  the  king  and  queen  and  the  Countess  of 
Richmond,  the  king's  mother,  kept  the  feast  with  great  pomp 
at  Windsor.  "  Her  Majesty  and  the  Countess  of  Richmond 
wore  the  livery  of  the  Order,  and  sat  in  a  rich  chair,  covered 
with  cloth  of  gold,  drawn  by  six  horses,  harnessed  in  a 
similar  manner,  followed  by  twenty-one  ladies,  among  them 
the  queen's  sister,  Lady  Anne,  habited  in  crimson  velvet, 
and  mounted  on  white  palfreys,  and  saddles  of  cloth  of  gold, 
.  .  .  their  trappings  covered  with  white  roses  ..."  The 
white  roses  and  the  crimson  velvet  were  no  doubt  intended 
to  emphasise  the  union  of  the  rival  "  Roses."  The  collar 
added  to  the  decorations  of  the  Order  by  Henry  VII.  in 
honour  of  his  queen  and  their  child  has  the  red  and  white 
roses  intertwined  on  a  collar  of  gold.  The  badge  known  as 
"  the  George  "  was  also  introduced  at  this  time.^ 

In  this  reign  the  original  chapel  of  Henry  III.  was  finally 
destroyed  to  make  room  for  the  royal  burial  place  designed 
by  Henrj'  VII.,  but  it  was  never  completed,  as  he  eventually 
built  for  himself  the  well-known  chapel  that  bears  his  name 
at  Westminster.  Sir  Reginald  Bray  built  the  southern  tran- 
sept at  Windsor,-  and  the  shell  of  the  chapel  as  it  now  exists, 


^  Ashmole  says  that  Henry  VIII.  instituted  the  collar,  but  Sir  Harris 
Nicolas  has  decided  that  Henry  VII.  was  the  originator. 

-  In  the  Bray  Chapel  may  now  be  seen,  besides  the  inscription  to  the 
founder,  the  beautiful  monument  to  the  Prince  Imperial,  and  that  erected 
by  Queen  Victoria  in  memory  of  her  grandson,  Prince  Christian  Victor, 
who  died  in  South  Africa  in  1900. 


120      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

was  completed.  In  1505  an  agreement  was  made  for  con- 
structing the  roof  of  the  choir,  said  to  be  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  specimens  of  a  Gothic  stone  roof  in  existence.  The 
expense  of  the  vaulting  was  defrayed  by  subscriptions  from 
the  Knights  of  the  Garter.  The  Deanery  was  rebuilt  by 
Dr.  Christopher  Urwick  in  1500. 

The  queen  left  Windsor  for  the  last  time  in  October,  1502, 
on  her  way  from  Easthampstead  to  Richmond.  She  died  in 
February,  1503,  after  giving  birth  to  a  daughter. 

There  is  a  long  contemporary  account  of  the  magnificent 
reception  accorded  to  Philip,  Archduke  of  Austria,  at  Wind- 
sor.    He  was  on  his  way  to  take  possession  of  the  crown  of 
Castile  in  right  of  his  wife,  when  he  was  driven  by  adverse 
weather  into  the  harbour  at  Falmouth.     The  king  sent  to 
greet  him,  and  he  was  conducted  with  great  state  to  Wind- 
sor, where  he  was  received  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards 
Henry  VHI.)  five  miles  from  the  castle.     It  is  recorded  that 
the  prince  was  accompanied  by  "  five  earles  and  divers  lords 
and  knights  to  the  number  of  five  hundred  persons  gorgeously 
apparelled,"  and  that  Philip  was  received  "  after  the  most 
honourable   fashion."      Most  of  the    chroniclers,    however, 
represent    Philip   as  the  captive  rather   than   the   guest   of 
Henry,  and  the  nature  of  the  treaties  arranged  between  them 
at  the  time  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  Philip  was  aware  how 
speedily  the  guest  might  become  a  prisoner  if  he  did  not 
comply  with  the  demands  of  his  host. 

Henry  VII.  died  in  1509  and  was  succeeded  by  his  more 
famous  son.  Much  might  be  said  of  Windsor  during  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII. ;  it  was  a  period  of  colour  and  interest 
from  every  point  of  view.  Hampton  Court,  York  Place,  and 
Greenwich  were  his  favourite  residences,  but  the  chroniclers 
give  many  descriptions  of  the  state  and  festivity  with  which 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  121 

he  often  spent  Christmas  at  the  castle  or  celebrated  the 
Feast  of  St.  George  there.  There  is  the  usual  pleasant  pic- 
ture of  Henry  VIII.  as  a  young  man,  full  of  energy  and 
gaiety,  a  most  vigorous  example  of  his  own  precept,  "  Youth 
must  have  some  dalliance."  "  He  exercised  himself  daily  in 
shooting,  singing,  dancing,  wrestling,  casting  of  the  bar, 
playing  at  the  recorders,  flute,  virginals ;  in  setting  of  songs 
and  making  of  ballads."  He  was  also  a  mighty  hunter, 
going  forth  into  the  forest  with  his  archers  in  Lincoln  green, 
and  constantly  amusing  himself  with  jousts  and  tournaments 
in  which  he  took  part,  tilting  with  his  own  knights.^  There 
are  many  legends  of  his  going  into  the  town  of  Windsor,  like 
another  Haroun  Alraschid,  dressed  as  a  yeoman,  and  sharing 
the  sports  of  his  people. 

The  Court  of  Kathcrine  of  Aragon  is  said  to  have  been 
severe  and  stiff,  with  all  the  pomp  and  austerity  observed  in 
Spain,  but  the  scene  changed  to  one  of  less  dignity  if  of 
more  gaiety  under  Anne  Bolcyn. 

Henry  had  the  true  Tudor  love  of  lavish  pomp  and  display 
and  lost  no  opportunity  to  indulge  it.  Of  Wolsey  and  his 
other  advisers  and  councillors  there  is  less  to  be  said  at 
Windsor  than  elsewhere.  Henry  went  there  more  often  to 
hunt  or  to  hold  high  festival  than  to  take  council.  The  Feasts 
of  St.  George  were  always  observed  with  great  solemnity  ; 
one  of  the  most  characteristic  occasions  was  perhaps  on 
May  27,  1519,  when  "  the  king  removed  from  Richemont 
towards  his  castle  of  Windsor,  and  appointed  .  .  .  that  all 
noblemen  and  oder  which  should  wayte  upon  his  Grace  should 

'  Henry  was  no  mean  scholar  and  proved  himself  a  great  statesman. 
His  own  copy  of  the  book  that  gained  him  the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the 
Faith,"  with  his  signature  at  the  beginning  and  end,  is  in  the  library  at 
Windsor. 


122      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

be  ready  between  Richemont  and  Hounslow  to  attend  upon 
him.  Every  nobleman  was  taxed  and  rated  to  a  certain  number 
of  horse.  A  duke  sixty  horse,  a  marquis  fifty,  an  earl  forty, 
a  baron  thirty,  a  knight  of  the  Garter  twenty  ...  no  oder 
knight  or  nobleman  to  have  above  sixteen  horse,  with  their 
carriages  and  all.  And  the  king,  thus  right  nobly  com- 
panyed,  rode  to  Colebrooke,  and  at  the  sign  of  the  *  Katherine 
Wheel,'  the  king  took  his  courser,  and  his  henchmen  richly 
apparelled  followed,  also  the  king's  horse  of  state  led 
.  .  .  Gartier  King  of  Arms  wore  his  coate  of  armes,  the  Lord 
Richard  Fox,  Byshop  of  Winchester  and  Prelate  of  the 
Order,  with  many  odre  great  estates,  gave  their  attendance 
upon  His  Highness.  The  queen  and  the  ladies  and  their 
compaignies  stood  in  the  feild  at  the  town's  end,  beside  the 
highway  toward  Windesor,  to  see  the  king's  noble  compaignie 
pass  by,  and  then  the  queen  rode  to  the  Fery  next  way  to 
the  castle  (Datchet  Ferry).  The  king  rode  by  slow,  and  so 
to  Eton  CoUedge,  where  all  they  of  the  colledge  stood  along, 
in  manner  of  procession,  receiving  his  Grace  after  their 
custom. 

"  The  king  entered  Windsor  with  his  great  horses,  that  is  to 
say  nine  coursers  with  nine  children  of  honour  upon  them, 
and  the  master  of  the  king's  horses  upon  another  great 
courser's  back,  following  them,  having  and  leading  the  king's 
horse  of  estate  in  his  hand,  that  is  to  say  a  rich  courser  with 
a  rich  saddle,  trapped  and  garnished,  following  the  king,  and 
so  entred  the  castle. 

"  At  the  castle  gate,  the  ministers  of  the  colledge  received 
the  king  with  procession,  and  the  king  and  knights  of  the 
Ordre,  at  the  church  dore,  took  their  mantles,  and  entred  the 
quere,  and  stood  before  their  stalls,  till  the  Soveraign  had 
offred  and  returned  to  his  stall;  then  every  knight  offred, 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  123 

according  to  his,  as  by  the  statute  is  ordained,  and  entred 
their  stallys,  which  was  a  long  ceremony  or  ever  they  had  all 
offred,  because  of  the  great  number  of  knights  that  then  was 
present,  which  were  nineteen  in  number  besides  the 
Soveraign."  ^ 

Hall  describes  the  feast  on  the  same  occasion :  "  The 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  Prelate  of  the  Order,  sat  at  the  boards 
end  alone.  The  king  was  solemnly  served  and  the  surnap 
cast  like  the  feast  of  a  coronation.  All  things  were  plentious 
to  strangers  that  resorted  thither.  At  the  Masse  of  Requiem 
were  offered  the  banner  and  other  habiliaments  of  honour 
belonging  to  Maximilian  the  Emperor,  late  deceased." 

Stowe  says  that  an  attempt  was  made  at  this  feast  to  reform 
the  statutes  of  the  Order.  Three  years  later  Henry,  with 
the  full  consent  of  the  Knights  Commanders,  made  "interpre- 
tation and  declaration  of  the  obscurities,  doubts  and  am- 
biguities of  the  former  statutes  and  ordinances." 

In  1520  Edward,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  was  accused  of 
treason,  and  came  in  haste  to  Windsor  to  declare  his  inno- 
cence, but  found  himself  surrounded  by  the  king's  knights, 
so  that  he  could  not  escape.  He  was  taken  on  to  London 
the  next  day,  where  he  was  thrown  into  the  Tower,  and  was 
beheaded  on  May  17,  152 1.  The  ceremony  of  his  degrada- 
tion as  a  knight  of  the  Garter  took  place  in  St.  George's 
Chapel  on  June  8,  and  is  described  at  length  by  Stowe. 
His  disgrace  was  proclaimed  and  published  by  Garter  King- 
at-Arms  from  "  the  quire  of  Windsor  Collcdgc  ;  there  being 
present  all  the  other  officers  of  armes,  many  knights  com- 
panions, and  other  great  audience."  After  the  terms  and 
reasons  of  his  degradation  had  been  read,  Somerset  Herald, 

'  Ashmole  :  Order  of  the  Garter,  560. 


124      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

who  was  "  in  the  roode-loft  behind  the  hachments  of  the 
saide  Duke  Edward  .  .  .  violently  cut  downe  into  the  quire 
his  crest,  his  banner  and  sword ;  and  when  the  publication 
was  all  done,  the  officers  of  armes  spurned  the  saide  hach- 
ment  with  their  feete  out  of  the  quire  into  the  body  of  the 
church";  and  then  the  sword,  banner,  and  crest  were 
"  spurned  out  of  the  said  quire  through  the  church  out  at 
the  west  doore,  and  so  to  the  bridge,  where  it  was  spurned 
over  into  the  ditch.  And  thus  was  the  said  Edward,  late 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  fully  disgraded  of  the  Order  of  Saint 
George,  named  the  Garter." 

In  September,  1524,  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  as  ambassador 
from  Clement  VII.,  the  newly  elected  Pope,  brought  to 
Windsor  "  a  rose  of  gold  "  for  a  token  for  the  king.  It  was  said 
to  be  "  a  tree  forged  of  fine  gold,  and  wrought  with  branches, 
leaves  and  flowers,  resembling  roses  :  this  tree  was  set  in  a 
pot  of  gold,  which  pot  had  three  feet  of  antique  fashion  :  the 
pot  was  of  measure  half  a  pint ;  in  the  uppermost  rose  was  a 
fine  saphire  '  coupe  perced,'  the  bigness  of  an  acorn.  The 
tree  was  of  height  half  an  English  yard,  and  in  breadth  it 
was  a  foot."  It  was  delivered  to  the  king  "  after  a  solemn 
mass  sung  by  the  Cardinal  of  York." 

Those  were  the  days  of  Wolsey's  supremacy,  when  Henry 
was  truly  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  Church  a  "  Defender  of 
the  Faith." 

Seven  years  later  (1531)  the  king  and  Katherine  of 
Aragon  were  at  Windsor  together  for  the  last  time,  at 
Whitsuntide.  Their  outward  demeanour  always  showed 
perfect  courtesy  and  consideration  towards  each  other.  Hall 
says  their  final  separation  took  place  at  Windsor  in  July, 
1531.  "  He  left  hire  at  Wyndesore,  where  she  laye  a 
whyle    and  after  removed  to  the  More,  and  afterwards  to 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  125 


Esthamstede :   and   after  this  day  the  king  and  she  never 
were  together." 

In  September  the  following  year,  though  Henry  had  not 
yet   obtained  the  much-desired  divorce,  Anne   Boleyn   was 
created  Marchioness  of  Pembroke  at  Windsor.     There  is  an 
old  description  of  her  being  carried  up  the  Castle  Hill  in  her 
litter  of   cloth  of  gold,    smiling  and  bowing  to  the  towns- 
people as  if  she  were  already  the  queen.     In  Mills'  Catalogue 
of  Honoxir  a  full  account  is  given  of  the  ceremony  of  her 
elevation  to  the  peerage,  which  took  place  in  "  the  Chamber 
of   Salutation  which    they    commonly    call    the  Presence." 
Anne  was  attired  in  "  a  surcot  of  crimson  velvet  lined  with 
ermins  .  .  .  and  her  hair  loose  and  hanging  down  uppon  her 
shoulders  .  .  .  The  king  himself  put  upon  her  the  roab  of 
estate   (of  crimson  velvet,  furred  with  ermins)  and  also  put 
uppon    her    head    a    coronet    of    gold."     The    Bishop    of 
Winchester  read  the  charter,  and  all  the  dukes  and  other 
"  great   estates   of  the   kingdom  "   were  present  **  together 
with  the  French  ambassador." 

Anne  never  seems  to  have  felt  secure  in  her  position  until 
the  day  when  she  heard  of  Katherine's  death,  and  exclaimed 
"  Now  I  am  indeed  queen  !  "  She  is  said  to  have  discovered 
Henry's  infatuation  for  Jane  Seymour  at  a  masque  at 
Windsor.^ 

A  curious    legend    of    Windsor    Park,    afterwards  made 
immortal  by  Shakespeare  in  the  Merry  Wives,  belongs  to  th 
reign.^       "  Kerne    the    Hunter,"    one   of   the   king's    park 
keepers,  had  been  found  guilty  of  slaying  the  king's  deer, 
and  in  despair  had  hanged  himself  on  an  oak  in  the  forest, 

'  Some  writers  say  it  was  at  Hampton  Court. 

"^  Forvarious  probably  imaginary  but  sensational  versions  of  the  legend 
see  Harrison  Ainsworth  :  Windsor  Castle. 


126      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

which  he  was  supposed  afterwards  to  haunt,  with  a  stag's 
antlers  growing  out  of  his  head.  What  was  his  exact  con- 
nection with  the  king  seems  to  be  uncertain,  but  it  was  said 
that  he  always  appeared  to  Henry  at  any  crisis  in  his  life, 
notably  when  he  was  hunting  in  the  forest  on  the  day  of  the 
death  of  his  *'  awne  darling,"  as  he  had  called  Anne.  He  rode 
off  at  once  to  the  house  where  Jane  Seymour  was  staying, 
and  they  were  married  immediately  afterwards. 

Princess  Mary,  who  had  been  constantly  at  Windsor 
before  the  divorce  of  her  mother,  came  there  no  more 
till  1537,  when  Katherine  was  dead,  and  after  the  execu- 
tion of  Anne  Boleyn.  While  Jane  Seymour  was  queen, 
Mary  was  reconciled  to  her  father,  and  at  Windsor  in 
August,  1537,  she  distributed  alms  to  *'  many  poor  persons 
and  householders." 

Her  next  visit  to  the  castle  was  for  the  interment  of  Queen 
Jane,  who  died  at  Hampton  Court  on  October  24,  1537. 
The  king  "  immediately  retired  to  a  solitary  place,  not  to  be 
spoken  with,  leaving  some  of  his  counsellors  to  take  order 
about  her  burial."  ^ 

She  was  the  only  one  of  Henry's  wives  who  did  what  was 
required  of  her  and  gave  him  a  son  :  the  king  may  have  really 
regretted  her  death. 

The  body  of  the  queen  was  carried  to  Windsor  on 
November  12,  "  with  all  the  pomp  and  majesty  that  could 
be."  Her  effigy,^  richly  clad  in  "  robes  of  estate,"  covered 
with  jewels  and  with  a  crown  on  her  head,  lay  on  the  pall 
that  covered  her  coffin,  and  was  drawn  in  a  "  gold  chair"  by 
six  chariot  horses,   "with   trappings   of    black    velvet   and 

*  Strype:  Ecd.  Mem.,  ii.,  pt.  i,  p.  11. 

^  Some  of  the  waxen  effigies  of  kings  and  queens,  used  at  their  funerals, 
can  still  be  seen  at  Westminster  Abbey. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  127 

escutcheons."  Princess  Mary  was  chief  mourner,  and  all  the 
great  ladies  of  the  Court  followed  in  her  train.  On  the 
thirteenth  day  after  her  death  the  queen  was  interred,  and 
the  obsequies  were  finished.  She  was  buried  in  the  middle 
of  the  choir  of  St.  George's  Chapel. 

The  next  great  ceremony  at  Windsor  was  the  reception  of 
Frederick,  Prince  Elector  of  Saxony,  the  Chancellor  of 
William,  Duke  of  Cleves,  in  1539.  He  came  to  arrange  the 
marriage  of  the  Princess  Anne  of  Cleves  with  Henry.  It  is 
said  that  he  **  feasted  and  had  great  pastime  shown  to  him." 
Little  more  than  a  year  later  that  disappointing  alliance  had 
been  annulled,  and  in  August,  1540,  Katherine  Howard  was 
at  Windsor  as  Queen.  In  the  autumn  she  and  Henry  spent 
some  time  there,  and  the  Privy  Council  were  at  the  castle 
almost  daily.  Already  some  gossip  had  transpired  about 
Katherine  in  the  precincts,  for  it  is  recorded  that  a  certain 
priest  of  Windsor  had  spoken  ill  of  her,  and  had  been 
imprisoned  in  the  castle.  Her  disgrace  and  execution  took 
place  in  1542. 

The  effects  of  the  Reformation  were  not  severely  felt  at 
Windsor ;  the  **  Collegiate  Chapel  of  St.  George  "  acknow- 
ledged the  royal  supremacy  in  1534,  and  continued  to  enjoy 
its  magnificent  endowment  in  peace.  Eton's  "college  of 
secular  priests  "  followed  the  example  of  Windsor. 

It  is  true  that  the  Reformation  claimed  some  early  martyrs 
at  Windsor — Pearson,  a  priest ;  Testwood,  who  was  in  the 
choir  at  St.  George's  Chapel ;  and  Filmer,  one  of  the 
churchwardens  of  the  parish  church.  They  were  all  accused 
of  heresy,  and  of  speaking  against  certain  ceremonies  of  the 
Church  as  "Romish  superstitions."  They  were  brought 
before  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  suffered  death 
at  the  stake  in  the  town.     "  Many  which  saw  their  patient 


128      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

sufferings  confessed   that    they  could   have  found  in   their 
hearts  (at  that  present)  to  have  died  with  them." 

Henry  died  at  Westminster  on  January  28,  1547,  accord- 
ing to  some  accounts  with  the  terrible  words  "  All  is  lost " 
on  his  lips.  He  left  instructions  in  his  famous  and  much 
discussed  will  for  his  burial  "  with  our  true  and  loving  wife 
Queen  Jane,"  and  that  "  an  honourable  tombe  for  our  bones 
to  rest  in  "  was  to  be  erected. 

The  following  is  a  contemporary  account  of  his  funeral 
considerably  abridged : — 

"  On  14  February  at  ten  in  the  morning  the  king's  body 
set  out  towards  Windsor  in  a  stately  chariot,  his  effigies  lying 
upon  the  coffin  with  the  true  imperial  crown  on  his  head. 
.  .  .  He  wore  robes  of  crimson  velvet  furred  with  minever, 
powdered  with  ermin,  and  the  collar  of  the  Garter  and  Order 
of  St.  George.  By  his  side  was  a  sword,  the  sceptre  and  orb 
were  in  his  hands.  .  .  .  The  chariot  was  drawn  by  eight 
great  horses  adorned  with  escutcheons,  and  a  shaffedon  on 
their  heads,  each  ridden  by  a  child  of  honour  carrying  a 
banner  of  the  king's  arms.  ..." 

**  An  exceeding  great  train  four  miles  in  length  "  followed 
the  "  chariot."  They  stayed  at  Syon  for  the  night,  and  then 
proceeded  to  the  castle  college  gate  at  Windsor,  which  was 
hung  with  black  cloth  and  escutcheons,  as  were  the  church 
and  choir.  On  Wednesday,  February  16,  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  with  much  ceremony,  the  coffin  "  was  let  into 
the  vault  near  u)ito  the  body  of  Queen  Jane  Seymour." 
"  The  Lord  Chamberlain  and  all  the  great  officials  brake  their 
white  staves  upon  their  heads  and  threw  them  into  the  grave. 
Garter  declared  the  name  and  state  of  Edward  VI.,  the  trumpet 
sounded  in  the  rood-loft,  and  the  company  departed."  ^ 

J  Strype  :  Ecc/.  Mem.,  ii.,  pt.  2.     Sandford  :  Gen,  Hist.,  493 — 4. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  129 

The  king's  tomb  was  never  completed;  it  was  to  have  been 
a  "composition  of  luxuriant  taste  and  extraordinary  magnifi- 
cence of  gilt  metal  throughout."  Wolsey  also  began  a 
stately  burial  place  for  himself  at  Windsor,  in  the  chapel 
erected  by  Henry  VII.,  subsequently  known  as  "  Wolsey's 
tomb-house,"  and  now  as  the  "Albert  Memorial  Chapel."^ 
Some  part  of  the  work  done  for  Wolsey  by  Benedetto,  a 
Florentine,  remained  till  1646,  when  it  was  removed  by  com- 
mand of  the  Parliament.  The  figures  and  statues  of  copper 
gilt  were  sold  for  ^^600.  The  sarcophagus  of  black  marble, 
of  Italian  design,  remained  at  Windsor  till  1805  ;  it  now 
surmounts  the  tomb  of  Nelson  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral. 

The  great  gateway  to  the  lower  ward  of  the  castle 
remains  much  as  it  was  when  Henry  built  it  soon  after  his 
accession,  with  his  arms  and  devices  and  those  of  his  queen, 
Katherine  of  Aragon,  still  appearing  on  it.  The  w'orks,  and 
more  especially  the  roof  of  the  choir  in  St.  George's  Chapel, 
were  finished  during  this  reign.^ 

Ashmole  laments  the  neglect  of  the  Grand  Feast  of  the 
Order  of  the  Garter,  and  says  that  no  anniversaries  were 
kept  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  The  advisers  of  the 
young  king  evidently  looked  upon  the  ceremonials  usually 
observed  as  superstitious  and  idolatrous.  It  was  decreed 
"that  the  Order  from  henceforth  shall  be  cauled  the  Order  of 
the  Garter,  and  nat  of  Saynte  George,  leste  the  honor  which 
is  dew  to  God  the  Creator  of  all  things  mighte  seme  to  be 
given  to  any  creature." 

'  The  monuments  of  Prince  Leopold,  Duke  of  Albany,  and  of  the  Duke  oi 
Clarence,  son  and  grandson  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  are  in  this  chapel. 

"  All  architectural  details  at  Windsor  are  subject  to  discoveries  which 
may  be  made  by  further  research. 

R.P.  K 


130      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Various  other  alterations  of  an  iconoclastic  nature  were 
made  in  the  statutes,  but  were  repealed  in  the  following  reign. •• 

Edward  himself  disliked  Windsor,  where  the  great  walls 
seemed  to  him  "like  a  prison."^  He  was  brought  there  by 
night  in  haste  from  Hampton  Court  in  October,  1549,  under 
the  escort  of  five  hundred  armed  men,  because  the  Protector 
thought  the  castle  safer  than  the  palace.  Somerset's  military 
forces  were  inadequate  for  the  protection  of  the  king,  and  the 
gentlemen  of  the  country  would  not  rise  on  behalf  of  the 
Protector,  who  was  obliged  to  surrender.  He  was  put  in 
ward  for  a  time  in  the  Beauchamp  Tower,  but  was  afterwards 
sent  to  London,  and  Edward  was  permitted  to  return  to  his 
beloved  Hampton  Court. 

A  considerable  quantity  of  Church  property,  belonging  to 

St.  George's  Chapel,  including  jewels,  plate,  and  vestments, 

was  sold  during  this  reign,  to  meet  the  expense  of  "  rebuild- 

ng  the  castle  wall,  taking  down  the  high  altar,  and  paying 

tenths  and  subsidies." 

There  is  little  to  record  of  the  reign  of  Mary  at  Windsor ; 
she  lost  no  time  in  restoring  the  Order  of  the  Garter  to 
its  original  condition.  Edward's  statutes  were  "  abrogated 
and  disannulled,"  on  the  ground  that  they  were  "  so  imper- 
tinent and  tending  to  novelty."^  One  of  the  most  unpopular 
acts  was  the  appointment  of  Philip  of  Spain,  shortly  after 
their  marriage,  as  "  Grand  Master  "  of  the  Order,  a  new  title, 
hitherto  unknown  to  the  English  knights.  Holinshed  records 
that  over  the  Sovereign's  stall  in  the  chapel,  "an  herald  took 

'  Seep.  97,  Edw.  III. 

2  Journal  of  Edward  VI. 

^  There  is  a  contemporary  transcript  of  Mary's  statutes  in  the  library 
at  Windsor,  but  it  does  not  give  the  exact  expression  concerning 
Edward's  orders. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  131 


down  the  arms  of  England  and  in  the  place  of  them  would 
have  set  the  arms  of  Spain,  but  he  was  commanded  to  set 
them  up  again  by  certain  lords."  ^  Tennyson  expressed  the 
national  feeling  in  his  description  of  Philip  at  his  marriage, 
when  he 

Flamed  in  brocade,  white  satin  his  trunk-hose, 
Inwrought  with  silver, — on  his  neck  a  collar, 
Gold,  thick  with  diamonds :  hanging  down  from  this 
The  Golden  Fleece — and  round  his  knee,  misplaced, 
Our  English  Garier,  studded  with  great  emeralds, 
Rubies,  I  know  not  what. 

Only  necessary  repairs  were  done  at  the  castle  during  this 
reign,  except  that  some  houses  were  built  for  the  Poor 
Knights,  which  are  still  inhabited  by  their  successors. 

The  history  of  Elizabeth  at  Windsor  reveals  the  stern 
grey  walls  of  the  castle  as  the  background  to  a  gorgeous  and 
studied  pageant,  "  fanciful  and  extravagant  as  a  caliph's 
dream." '-^  Her  Court  was  splendid,  and  she  gathered  round  her 
the  men  who  represented  the  height  of  the  renaissance  of 
art  and  learning  in  England.  No  sovereign  of  this  country 
has  been  a  more  able,  although  unscrupulous,  politician  than 
Elizabeth ;  her  very  frivolities  and  caprices  served  their  end. 
Her  self-confidence  was  well-founded,  if  amazing.  "  Her 
Majesty  counts  much  on  Fortune,"  wrote  Walsingham, 
almost  in  despair ;  "  I  wish  she  would  trust  more  in 
Almighty  God." 

But  behind  the  riot  of  colour,  the  scene  of  exaggerated  and 
voluptuous  gaiety  and  wit  in  which  she  delighted  to  move, 
like  the  solid  walls  of  the  castle  itself,  was  perhaps  the  most 

*  Philip's  banner  apparently  hung  over  the  stall  with  that  of  the 
queen,  as  it  was  removed  afterwards  by  Elizabeth's  orders. 

*  Green  :  Short  History  of  the  English  People^  ii.,  735. 

K    2 


132      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

noble  group  of  statesmen  that  ever  met  in  council.  At  no 
time  has  Windsor  been  the  scene  of  more  moving  life,  of 
more  splendid  ceremonial,  than  in  Elizabeth's  reign.  Though 
Madame  d'Arblay's  diary  has  led  many  to  identify  the  north 
terrace  chiefly  with  the  picturesque  if  homely  family  life  of 
George  IIL  and  his  queen,  and  the  pathetic  figure  of  the 
blind  king,  it  belongs  still  more  to  the  "  spacious  times  "  of 
Elizabeth.  Fancy  can  still  see  her  walking  briskly  on  the 
broad  terrace  she  had  enlarged  and  extended,  "  to  catch  her 
a  heat  in  the  mornings."  There  can  be  imagined  the  brilliant 
figures  of  her  courtiers  in  trunk-hose  and  slashed  doublets, 
with  ruffs  and  plumed  hats  and  swaying  cloaks,  moving 
among  the  ladies  in  their  wonderful  farthingales  and  stiff 
lace  collars,  jewelled  and  fantastic,  yet  appropriate  and 
dignified.  There  Raleigh  and  Drake  and  Howard  may  have 
unfolded  to  the  queen  their  dreams  of  a  new  world,  fabulously 
rich,  that  might  be  made  concrete,  and  probably  found  her 
ready  enough  to  lend  a  willing  ear,  to  hear  and  to  take  all, 
but  to  give  very  little.^  There  she  perhaps  coquetted,  after 
her  fashion,  with  Essex  and  Leicester,  and  there  she  walked 
and  spoke  gravely  of  affairs  of  State  with  Cecil  and  Bacon, 
passing  through  the  midst  of  them  all,  flashing  and  gleaming 
like  her  jewels,  but  bearing  a  very  real  "  weight  of  learning, 
lightly  like  a  flower."  There  very  probably  Shakespeare 
himself,  hat  in  hand,  received  his  orders  to  write  a  comedy 
for  Her  Majesty ;  and  there  the  real  and  portentous  tragedy 
of  Fotheringhay  was  discussed  and  perhaps  decided. 

The  first  Feast  of  St.  George  after  the  accession  of  Eliza- 
beth took  place  in  June,  1559,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  being 

1  A  unique  drawing  of  Elizabeth  by  Isaac  Oliver,  in  the  "  thanksgiving 
dress  "  she  wore  after  the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  hangs  in  the  library  at 
Windsor,  originally  "  Queen  Elizabeth's  gallery." 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  133 

the  queen's  substitute.  Four  new  knights  were  installed,  and 
"  there  was  great  feasting."  On  that  day,  according  to  Strype, 
"  the  Communion  and  English  service  began  to  be  celebrated 
in  the  chapel  of  St.  George."  It  was  no  doubt  on  this  occa- 
sion that  the  banner  of  Philip  of  Spain  was  removed  from 
above  the  Sovereign's  stall,  where  it  hung  with  the  arms  of 
England,  and  Philip  in  great  anger  offered  to  send  back  his 
"  George,"  but  Elizabeth  replied  graciously  that  "if  he  were 
not  now  the  Grand  Master,  she  regarded  him  as  one  of  her 
knights."  A  truly  feminine  retort  to  which  Philip  could 
make  no  answer.  Sir  Robert  Dudley,  afterwards  Earl  of 
Leicester,  was  among  the  new  knights,  and  was  appointed 
constable  of  the  castle  and  forest  and  keeper  of  the  Great 
Park  for  his  life.  He  was  the  first  constable  since  the  time 
of  Henry  VIII.  This  Feast  of  St.  George  seems  to  have  been 
the  only  anniversary  celebrated  with  the  ancient  solemnities 
during  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  in  1567  a  statute  of  the  Order 
was  made  which  in  effect  abolished  the  annual  feast  at 
Windsor,  and,  according  to  the  pessimistic  view  of  Ashmole, 
"gave  the  greatest  and  almost  fatal  blow  to  the  growing 
honour  of  this  no  less  famous  than  ancient  castle  of  Windsor, 
and  severed  the  patron's  festival  from  the  place."  The 
celebration  of  the  anniversary  was  revived  by  James  I. 

In  September,  1559,  John,  Duke  of  Finland,  came  to 
Windsor  to  solicit  the  hand  of  Elizabeth  on  behalf  of  his 
brother  Eric,  King  of  Sweden,  and  the  queen  began  the  long 
series  of  what  may  be  termed  her  "  political  flirtations." 

In  1562,  when  she  came  to  Windsor  to  avoid  the  plague 
in  London,  she  received  on  her  way  a  "  Latin  oration  and 
seventy-two  epigrams  in  the  same  language  from  the  scholars 
of  Eton,"  and  no  doubt  answered  them  in  the  same  classic 
tongue.     Strype  records  that  the  queen  "  still  followed  her 


134      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

studies  in  a  constant  course  with  her  schoolmaster  Ascham, 
who  was  so  extremely  taken  with  his  royal  mistress's  diligence 
and  advancement  in  learning,  that  once  he  broke  out,  in  an 
address  to  the  young  gentlemen  of  England,  that  '  it  was 
their  shame,  that  one  maid  should  go  beyond  them  all  in 
excellency  of  learning  and  knowledge  of  divers  tongues.'  "  "  I 
believe,"  he  said  on  another  occasion,  "  that  besides  her  per- 
fect readiness  in  Latin,  Italian,  French  and  Spanish,  she 
readeth  here  now  at  Windsor  more  Greek  every  day,  than 
some  Prebandarie  of  this  Church  doth  read  Latin  in  a  whole 
weeke."  On  certain  days  she  did,  however,  "  forbeayre  to 
transylate,"  and  joined  in  all  the  amusements  of  the  Court, 
hunting  in  the  forest,  and  sometimes  making  presents  of  the 
deer  she  "  broughte  downe  with  her  own  bowe." 

In  1565  Lady  Mary  Gray,  the  third  daughter  of  Henry, 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  married,  secretly,  Henry  Keys,  the  queen's 
"  gentleman  porter."  He  was  described  as  being  *'  the 
greatest,"  as  she  was  said  to  be  "  the  least,"  person  about  the 
Court.  He  was  probably  the  original  of  the  gigantic  portrait 
of  "  Queen  Elizabeth's  Porter  "  that  now  hangs  in  the  guard- 
room at  Hampton  Court.  "  Here  is  a  unhappy  chance  and 
monstruos,"  wrote  Sir  William  Cecil,  "  they  are  committed 
to  severall  (separate)  prisons.  The  offence  was  very  great." 
Elizabeth's  courtiers  could  never  displease  her  more  deeply 
than  by  marrying  without  her  consent,  and  her  consent  was 
not  easy  to  obtain. 

During  some  diplomatic  difficulties  with  France  concerning 
the  restoration  of  Calais  and  the  relinquishment  of  Havre, 
Sir  Nicholas  Throckmorton,  Elizabeth's  ambassador  in  Paris, 
was  thrown  into  prison  in  July,  1563,  and  in  retaliation  the 
French  envoy  to  England  was  placed  under  restraint  at 
Eton,  though  Cecil,  writing  from  Windsor  in  August,  1563, 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  135 

says  that  "  he  was  better  lodged  than  ever  he  was  in  England 
.  .  .  and  useth  to  ryde  much  abroade."  Hostages  for  the 
delivery  of  Calais  were  also  at  Windsor,  and  other  captives 
were  "some  French  captains  taken  coming  from  Florida." 

An  amusing  account  is  given  by  Strype  of  a  brawl  between 
the  ambassador  and  the  Provost  of  Eton.  The  custom  was 
that  the  doors  of  the  college  should  be  closed  at  a  certain 
hour,  and  the  provost  refused  to  send  the  keys  to  his  prisoner, 
who  therefore  came  with  his  servants  and  "  took  the  provost 
violently  out  of  his  chamber,  having  but  one  young  scholar  in 
his  company,  and  took  the  keys  and  opened  the  gate  at  their 
pleasure."  The  ambassador  was  liberated  before  the  treaty 
with  France  was  concluded  in  April,  1564,  the  peace  being 
"proclaimed  with  the  sound  of  trumpet  before  Her  Majesty 
in  her  castle  of  Windsor,  there  being  present  the  French 
ambassadors." 

At  Burnham,  three  miles  from  Windsor,  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk  was  arrested  in  1569,  on  account  of  his  "traitorous 
alliance  "  with  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  her  adherents.  He 
was  on  his  way  to  Windsor,  having  been  peremptorily  recalled 
by  Elizabeth — a  command  he  obeyed  against  the  advice  of 
his  friends.  An  open  insurrection  in  favour  of  Mary,  under 
the  Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westminster,  broke  out  a 
few  days  later,  and  in  November  the  same  year  Northumber- 
land was  formally  degraded  from  being  a  Knight  of  the 
Garter.  The  usual  proclamations  were  read  by  the  heralds, 
with  the  sound  of  trumpets  ;  his  "  achievements  "  were  taken 
down  from  the  chapel  and  "  cast  into  the  castle  ditch." 

In  1570  Elizabeth  still  carried  on  her  studies  with  Ascham 
when  she  was  at  Windsor,  but,  as  Strype  says,  her  time  was 
much  occupied  "  with  the  public  and  weighty  affairs  of  the 
State." 


136      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


A  Chapter  of  the  Garter — not  a  "  feast  of  St.  George  " — 
was  held  in  June,  1572,  for  the  installation  of  Francis,  Due 
de  Montmorenci ;  he  and  the  French  ambassadors  were  as 
usual  "royally  feasted."  William  Cecil,  Lord  Burghley,  was 
one  of  the  knights  elected  on  this  occasion,  and  the  queen,  as 
a  mark  of  her  special  grace  and  favour,  invested  him  with  the 
Garter  herself. 

To  the  end  of  her  life  Elizabeth  remained  true  to  all  her 
traditions  of  feasting  and  splendour.  When  she  came  to 
Windsor  in  August,  1601,  she  "  made  a  step  to  Mr.  Attorney's 
(Sir  Edward  Coke),  at  Stoke  where  she  was  most  sumptuously 
entertained,  and  presented  with  jewels  and  other  gifts,  to  the 
amount  of  ;£'i,ooo  or  £2,000."  ^  In  1602  the  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor,  which  had  been  written  at  Elizabeth's  express 
command  "  in  a  fortnight,"  was  acted  before  her,  apparently 
more  than  once,  "  by  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's  servants."  ^  It  is  said  that  she  was  "  very  well 
pleased  at  the  representation."  Pym  says  that  she  was 
very  fond  of  having  plays  acted  before  her  in  the  castle,  and 
spent  great  sums  on  the  scenery,  which  was  far  more 
elaborate  than  that  generally  used  at  the  theatres.  She  had 
a  regular  "  wardrobe  for  the  actors,"  and  a  wonderful 
orchestra,  consisting  of  "  trumpeters,  lutists,  harpers,  singers, 
minstrels  and  flutists." 

It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  into  the  fascinating  picture  of 
the  period  and  the  realistic  details  of  Windsor  that  can  be 
traced  in  the  Merry  Wives.     The  "  Garter  "  Inn,  where  it  is 

'  Sir  E.  Coke's  manor-house  at  Stoke  was  pulled  down  in  1789,  when 
the  present  house  was  built. 

^  The  "  professional  actor "  was  hardly  known  before  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  and  even  then  he  generally  had  to  describe  himself  as  a 
follower  of  some  great  man  to  prevent  his  being  "  clapped  into  gaol  as 
a  rogue  and  a  vagabond." 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  137 

said  that  the  play  was  written,  has  vanished,  but  it  is  known 
that  it  stood  in  the  High  Street,  facing  the  castle  hall,  and 
adjoining  the  "White  Hart."^ 

Hentzner,  a  German  traveller,  who  visited  England  in 
1598,  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  Windsor  and  all  that  he 
saw  there  in  Elizabeth's  reign,^  especially  mentioning  some 
tapestry  that  hung  in  her  bedroom,  and  was  said  to  have  been 
brought  from  France  by  either  Edward  III.  or  Henry  V. 

In  1570  certain  repairs  of  the  castle  were  undertaken,  some 
of  them  apparently  not  too  soon,  for  Sir  Edmund  Carey 
asked  that  the  Chamber  for  the  Squires  of  the  Body  might 
*'  be  ceiled  over  head  and  boarded  under  foot,  for  that  it  is  so 
ruinous  and  cold."  The  roof  of  the  castle  "where  the  rain 
beateth  in  "  is  also  mentioned  in  the  accounts,  and  the 
necessity  to  "  keep  out  the  choughes  and  piggins  that  doe 
much  hurte  to  the  castle."  A  new  gallery  and  banqueting  hall 
were  built  in  1576,  and  the  gallery  still  remains  as  part  of 
the  library,^  but  a  small  gateway  on  the  Castle  Hill,  facing  the 
town,  with  the  inscription  "  Elizabethae  Reginas,  xiii.,  1572," 
was  destroyed  in  the  reign  of  George  IV.  Elizabeth's  chief 
memorial  at  the  castle  is  the  famous  north  terrace.  A  plan 
of  her  improvements  and  alterations  is  still  extant.* 

With  the  accession  of  James  I.  the  splendid  era  of  the 
Tudor  Monarchy  comes  to  an  end.  Instead  of  Elizabeth 
with  her  wonderful  statecraft  and  her  almost  inspired  know- 
ledge of  the  English  temperament,  the  country  was  ruled  by 
"  the  wisest  fool  in  Christendom,"  preparing  the  way  for  the 

'  For  the  legend  of  Heme  the  Hunter  see  reign  of  Henry  VI H., 
p.  125-6. 

-  Rye  :  England  as  seen  by  Foreigners. 

3  The  oriel  window  at  the  end  of  the  library,  subsequently  considerably 
altered,  was  part  of  Henry  the  Seventh's  building. 

*  Wyatville  :  Illus.  of  Windsor. 


138      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

disaster  that  overtook  his  son.  He  visited  Windsor  for  the 
first  time  on  June  17,  1603.  On  June  27  he  met  his  queen  and 
Prince  Henry  near  Towcester,  on  their  first  arrival  in  England 
and  with  them  returned  to  the  castle.  Sir  Dudley  Carleton 
gives  the  following  account  of  their  reception: — "The 
king  and  queen,  with  the  prince  and  princess  (Elizabeth, 
afterwards  Queen  of  Bohemia),  came  to  this  place  on  Thurs- 
day last  .  .  .  with  a  mervilous  great  Courte  both  of  Lords 
and  Ladies  .  .  .  Here  was  some  squaring  at  first  betweene 
our  English  and  Scottish  lords,  for  lodgings  and  some  other 
petty  quarrels,  but  all  is  past  over  in  peace  .  .  .  The  lords 
of  Southampton  and  Grey  .  .  .  fell  flatly  out  ...  in  the 
queen's  presence.  They  were  committed  to  their  lodgings 
.  .  .  with  guard  upon  them.  The  next  day  they  were  brought 
and  heard  before  the  Council  and  sent  to  the  Tower  ..." 
Afterwards  the  king  forgave  them,  told  them  to  make  friends, 
"  and  they  presently  set  at  liberty."  These  quarrels  were  not 
a  good  omen  for  the  future  history  of  the  Stuarts  at  Windsor.^ 

Howe's  continuation  of  Stowe's  Chronicle  gives  an  account 
of  Prince  Henry's  installation  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  in 
July,  1603,  and  tells  how  the  great  ladies  of  England  came  to 
the  Court  "  to  performe  their  homage  to  the  queen." 

In  1604  James  was  at  Windsor  amusing  himself  hunting, 
and  while  there  "  he  was  drawn  by  Mr.  Peter  Yong  to  see 
Eaton  Colledge,  and  after  a  bankquett  there  made  him,  he 
knighted  Mr.  Savile,  the  Provost."  ^  Two  years  later  the 
queen's  brother,  Christian  IV.,  King  of  Denmark,  visited  the 
castle,  "  where  he  was  entertayned  by  the  king  most  royally," 

*  James  afterwards  quarrelled  both  with  the  clergy  of  the  castle  and 
the  burgesses  of  Windsor.  The  memory  of  his  reign  in  the  town  was 
said  to  be  one  "of  tyrany  and  oppression." 

^  Winwood :  Memorials,  ii.,  32. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  139 

and  the  Knights  of  Windsor  were  presented  to  him,  "these 
goodly  auncient  gentlemen  being  in  their  roabes  of  purple 
and  Scarlett,  with  the  Garter  and  Sainct  George's  crosse  upon 
them."  1 

Some  time  was  spent  in  hunting,  in  which  sport  the  queen 
excelled,  and  was  called  by  Spenser  the  "  Huntress  Queen.' 
It  was  said   that   James   caused   the  "  Little   Park "  to  be 
closed  to  the  public  because  he  did  not  like  his  subjects  to  see 
that  the  queen's  skill  in  shooting  was  greater  than  his  own. 

James  frequently  hunted  at  Windsor,  though  he  preferred 
the  milder  forms  of  sport,  such  as  coursing  rabbits  or  hawking 
partridges,  to  the  fiercer  joys  of  stag  or  boar  hunting.  There 
is,  however,  a  picture,  now  at  Hampton  Court,  of  the  king 
"  taking  the  assaye  "  in  a  stag  hunt,  and  it  was  sometimes 
mentioned  by  the  chroniclers  that  he  was  at  Windsor  "  to 
the  hunting  of  the  wild  boar." 

The  ambassadors  frequently  "feasted"  at  the  castle,  and 
it  was  thought  worthy  of  record  that  the  Spanish  ambassador, 
"  with  the  Marquess  of  Buckingham,  went  every  evening 
unto  the  Thames  near  to  Eton,  where  the  best  swimming  is, 
but  so  attended  with  choice  company  and  a  boat  or  two,  that 
there  could  be  no  danger." 

In  May,  1623,  James  kept  St.  George's  Feast,  which  he 
seems  to  have  revived,  at  Windsor,  "  where  there  was  no 
great  show,  nor  the  knights  and  procession  went  not  out 
their  ordinary  circuit,  by  reason  the  king  was  fain  to  be 
carried  in  a  chair,  not  for  any  grief  or  infirmity  more  than 
the  weakness  of  his  legs,  for  otherwise  they  say  he  looks 
as  well  and  as  fresh  as  he  did  many  a  day.    Secretary  Calvert 

'  King  Christian  was  personally  installed  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter 
during  thi  visit ;  he  had  been  elected  in  1603,  and  installed  by  proxy 
in  1605. 


I40      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

was  very  gay  and  gallant  there,  all  in  white,  cap-a-pie,  even 
to  his  white  hat  and  white  feather."^  Ashmole  speaks  of  the 
king's  "infirmity"  as  an  attack  of  gout. 

James  was  at  Windsor  for  the  last  time  in  September,  1624, 
when  he  wrote  to  ask  that  the  Duchess  of  Buckingham  and 
the  Countess  of  Denbigh  would  "  meete  me  on  Monday  after- 
noone  at  Harrison's  Heath  hearde  (herd)  with  theire  bows." 

The  famous  survey  of  the  Honour  of  Windsor  by  Norden 
was  made  early  in  the  reign  of  James  L,  and  the  original  is 
among  the  Harleian  Manuscripts  at  the  British  Museum. 
The  space  enclosed  is  much  as  it  is  now,  although  the 
internal  arrangements  of  park,  garden,  etc.,  are  greatly 
altered.  The  circuit  of  the  forest  is  given  as  about  ']']\  miles. 
It  was  supposed  formerly  to  have  been  about  120  miles  in 
circumference.  There  were  thirteen  "  rides "  in  it,  each 
under  the  charge  of  a  keeper,  and  it  contained  3,000  head 
of  deer. 

A  description  of  the  castle  written  by  Stowe  in  the  sixteenth 
century  is  also  among  the  Harleian  Manuscripts. 

The  history  of  the  House  of  Stuart  has  been  described  "  as 
an  attempt  to  govern  England  for  the  benefit  of  a  party  or  a 
sect."  James  made  the  initial  mistake  when  he  declared 
that  "  Free  States  agree  with  monarchy  as  mickle  as  the 
deil  agrees  with  God."  Elizabeth  would  have  expressed  it 
otherwise. 

Windsor  became  in  turns  council  chamber,  camp,  and 
headquarters  for  the  king  and  the  Parliament.  The  first 
ceremonial  that  took  place  in  St.  George's  Chapel  after  the 
accession  of  Charles  was  the  ratification  of  the  peace  with 
France   in    1626.     The   chapel   was   at   the   time,   from    a 

Nichols:  Progresses  of  James  /.,  iv.,  775. 


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WINDSOR    CASTLE  141 

memorial  written  by  the  Dean,  Dr.  Wren,  "  in  a  very  dis- 
orderly state."  Ashmole  says  that  Charles  intended  to 
enlarge  the  tomb-house,  and  make  it  fit  for  a  royal  sepulchre, 
"had  not  bad  times  drawn  on."  ^ 

The  Prince  of  Wales  (Charles  II.)  was  installed  as  Knight 
of  the  Garter  in  1638,  and  in  1640,  as  a  token  of  loyalty  from 
the  town  of  Windsor,  a  present  was  made  to  him  and  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  of  "  two  hunters  homes,  tipte 
and  adorned  with  silver  and  gilte  and  gouldsmithes  work,  and 
two  faire  green  taffaty  scarfes  to  hang  them  at  richly 
imbroideried  with  gould."  But  the  collision  between  the 
king  and  the  people  was  fast  approaching.^  The  church- 
wardens' accounts  at  Windsor  give  a  strange  jumble  of 
prayers  for  the  king's  safe  return  from  Scotland,  and  others 
for  the  "  good  success "  of  the  Parliament  that  eventually 
brought  the  king  to  the  scaffold. 

After  the  king's  "  impeachment  of  the  five  members  "  in 
January,  1641-42,^  he  withdrew  from  London  to  Hampton 
Court,  a  flight  that  has  generally  been  considered  fatal  to 
his  cause,  and  the  next  day  he  removed  to  Windsor,  believ- 
ing himself  there  "  more  secure  from  any  sudden  popular 
attempt."  Charles  has  always  been  accused  of  making  the 
first  appeal  to  arms  by  sending  for  ammunition  and  several 
troops  of  horse  to  Windsor.  The  Commons  at  once  retaliated 
by  appointing  a  commission  "  for  putting  the  kingdom  into 
a  posture  of  defence." 

'  Charles  had  cultivated  and  artistic  tastes,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of 
the  collection  of  Rubens  and  Vandyck  pictures  as  well  as  other  works 
of  art  now  at  the  castle.  They  were  almost  all  sold  by  the  Parliament, 
but  many  were  bought  back  or  given  back  to  the  King  afterwards. 

■^  The  town  early  declared  for  the  Parliament  and  raised  money  for  the 
army  on  that  side. 

'  Hampden,  Pym,  HoUis,  Strode,  and  Haselrig. 


142      ROYAL   PALACES   OF    ENGLAND 

The  king  remained  at  Windsor  till  February,  receiving 
constant  communications  from  Parliament,  and  the  Privy 
Council  attending  him  every  week.  This  was  the  last  time  that 
Charles  was  at  Windsor  asking,  "but  even  then,"  says  Lord 
Clarendon,  "  he  was  fallen  in  ten  days  from  such  a  height  of 
greatness  that  his  enemies  feared,  to  such  a  lowness  that  his 
own  servants  durst  hardly  avow  the  waiting  on  him."  About 
the  middle  of  February  the  queen  left  the  castle  for  Holland, 
and  the  king  departed  secretly  for  Greenwich  and  York. 

In  October,  1642,  Colonel  Newn,  whose  name  appears  as 
one  of  the  "  Regicides,"  was  sent  to  take  possession  of  the 
castle  as  governor  for  the  Parliament.  Twelve  companies 
of  foot  were  sent  with  him  to  anticipate  any  endeavour  on 
the  part  of  the  king's  troops  to  seize  **  the  place  of  greatest 
strength  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom." 

It  appears  that  before  this  formal  occupation  on  behalf  of 
the  Parliament  took  place  other  troops  had  been  at  the 
castle,  and  "  that  one  Captain  Fogg  came  immediately  to 
the  College  of  St.  George  and  demanded  the  keys  of  the 
Treasury " ;  but,  not  finding  the  three  key-keepers,  "  he 
caused  the  two  doors  to  be  broken  open,  and  carried  thence 
all  the  rich  chased  and  other  plate  made  sacred  and  set 
apart  for  the  service  of  God."  The  altar  had  lately  been 
furnished  with  new  plate,  the  elaborate  work  of  Christian 
van  Vianen  of  Nuremberg,  for  great  part  of  the  original 
service  had  been  sold  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  In  May, 
1643,  Newn  completed  the  plunder  of  the  chapel.^  The  coat 
of  mail  and  jewel-embroidered  surcoat  of  Edward  IV.  were 
carried  away,  the  carvings,  organ,  and  stained  glass  windows 
were  broken  and  defaced.     At  this  time  probably  many  of 

*  The  chapel  was  so  thoroughly  dismantled  that  it  was  said  to  be 
impossible  even  to  trace  former  arrangements. 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  143 


the  shields  of  the  Knights  of  the  Garter  were  removed.  The 
plate  was  sent  to  the  Guildhall  and  melted  down,  the  money 
being  required  by  Fairfax  in  the  north.  Dr.  Christopher  Wren, 
then  Dean  of  Windsor,  managed  to  save  the  three  registers  of 
the  Garter,  known  respectively  as  the  Black,  Blue,  and  Red 
Books.  He  also  buried  some  of  the  valuables  of  the  chapel 
under  the  floor  of  the  treasure  chamber,  but  they  were  all  found 
and  sold  by  the  Parliament.  The  pay  and  maintenance  of  the 
troops  was  one  of  the  great  difficulties  of  the  Republicans. 

In  the  autumn  of  1642  Prince  Rupert  made  an  unsuccessful 
attack  on  the  castle,  the  only  endeavour  to  regain  it  which 
seems  to  have  been  attempted  by  the  Royalists  during  the 
war.  It  was  used  as  a  prison  for  Royalist  prisoners,^ 
and  after  a  time  as  headquarters  for  the  army.  In  1643 
Sir  WiUiam  Waller  was  left  with  a  considerable  force  at 
Windsor,  while  Essex  advanced  to  the  west,  but  on  his 
return  in  December  the  garrison  had  to  be  partly  disbanded 
for  want  of  funds.  Mutinies  broke  out  among  the  troops,  and 
the  condition  of  affairs  became  so  serious  that  the  Commons 
recommended  "  some  speedy  course  for  the  safety  of  Windsor." 
Eventually  the  trained  bands  of  Middlesex  were  sent  to  secure 
the  castle.  In  January,  1644-45,  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  was 
appointed  commander-in-chief,  and  took  up  his  quarters  at 
Windsor,  where  "  Colonel  Cromwell "  came  to  salute  him. 

The  king  returned  to  Windsor  again  in  July,  1647,  as  the 
prisoner  of  the  Parliament.  In  August  he  was  removed  to 
Oatlands,  and  thence  to  Hampton  Court.  In  November 
Cromwell  and  Ireton  met  at  the  castle  to  discuss  and  decide 

'  In  January,  1642,  fifty-five  prisoners  were  at  the  castle.  They  were 
not  even  supplied  with  beds,  but  were  eventually  allowed  to  buy  neces- 
saries for  themselves.  Many  of  their  names  and  the  sums  allowed  for 
their  maintenance  appear  in  the  Journal  of  the  House  0/ Lords,  v.,  589-590. 


144      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

the  future  fate  of  the  king.  In  December,  1648,  Charles, 
after  his  unavaihng  flight  from  Hampton  Court,  was  once 
more  brought  back  to  Windsor,  and  was  described  in  a  con- 
temporary newsletter  as  "  indifferent  cheerful,  and  desirous 
of  peace  and  a  settlement."  A  plan  for  his  escape  between 
Farnham  and  Windsor  on  his  way  to  the  castle  had  been 
contemplated  by  the  king's  friends,  but  he  was  too  closely 
guarded,  riding  in  the  midst  of  a  hundred  horse,  every  soldier 
having  a  pistol  "  ready  spanned  "  in  his  hand. 

In  another  newsletter  of  January,  1648-49,  it  is  recorded 
that  "  although  he  (the  king)  expects  a  severe  change  and 
tryal,  yet  doth  he  not  show  any  great  discontent." 

Major-General  Harrison  was  appointed  by  Cromwell  to 
convey  the  king  from  Windsor  to  London  on  January  13, 
1648-49.  According  to  Heath,^  he  sat  in  the  carriage  with 
the  king,  keeping  his  hat  on  his  head. 

The  Duke  of  Hamilton  and  the  Earl  of  Loughborough, 
who  were  also  imprisoned  in  the  castle,  made  their  escape  on 
the  fatal  30th  of  January.  Loughborough  reached  Holland 
in  safety,  but  Hamilton  was  captured  and  beheaded  on 
March  9. 

After  '*  the  last  sad  scene  "  of  Charles's  eventful  history 
had  taken  place,  his  body  lay  in  a  room  at  Whitehall  for 
some  days,  exposed  to  public  view.  It  was  then  embalmed, 
enclosed  in  a  lead  coffin,  and  carried  to  St.  James's,  where  it 
remained  till  February  7. 

Orders  were  given  by  Parliament  that  the  king  should  be 
interred  at  Windsor,  "  in  a  decent  manner,  provided  that  the 
expense  should  not  exceed  £"500."  Four  faithful  lords  of  his 
bedchamber,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lords  Hertford, 

1  Heath  was  one  of  the  king's  servants.     Chronicle,  193. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  145 

Southampton,  and  Lindscy,  asked  for  permission  "  to  perform 
their  last  duty  to  their  dead  master,  and  to  wait  upon  him  in 
his  grave."  They  were  allowed  to  go  to  Windsor,  but  not 
to  follow  the  corpse  from  London.  It  was  conveyed  to  the 
castle  on  February  7  in  a  hearse  driven  by  the  king's  own 
coachman,  and  attended  by  four  of  his  late  servants,  who 
were  not  forbidden  to  wear  mourning.  That  night  the  coffin 
lay  in  the  king's  bedchamber  at  Windsor,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing was  removed  to  St.  George's  Hall,  where  "  the  room  was 
darkened  and  two  lighted  tapers  were  placed  on  the  coffin." 
About  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  four  lords,  with  Juxon, 
Bishop  of  London,  went  to  Colonel  Whitchcott,  the  governor 
of  the  castle,  to  ask  that  "  His  Majesty  might  be  buried 
according  to  the  form  of  the  Common  Prayer-book,"  the 
bishop  being  present  to  officiate.  Whitchcott  refused 
roughly,  saying  that  **  it  was  not  lawful,  the  Prayer-book 
had  been  put  down,  and  he  would  not  suffer  it  to  be  used  in 
that  garrison  where  he  commanded."  ^  "  All  would  not  pre- 
vaile,"  says  Fuller,  "the  governour  persisting  in  the  negative, 
and  the  lords  betooke  themselves  to  their  sad  employment." 
Clarendon  says  that  they  found  the  chapel  "  with  such  a 
dismal  mutation  over  the  whole,  that  they  knew  not  where 
they  were.  Nor  was  there  one  old  officer  that  had  belonged 
to  it,  or  knew  where  our  princes  had  used  to  be  interred." 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  duke  and  the  others  a  grave  had 
been  dug  on  the  south  side  of  the  altar,  but  the  duke 
considered  it  proper  that  the  king  should  be  laid  in  a  vault. 
After  seeking  in  vain  for  one  in  Wolsey's  chapel,  then  used  as 
a  magazine  for  arms,  they  tried  the   choir,    "  and  at  last, 

'  Whitchcott  must  have  made  it  evident  that  he  was  only  acting  in  an 
official  capacity.  After  the  Restoration  he  lived  in  the  town  of  Windsor, 
and  was  always  received  graciously  at  the  castle. 

R.P.  L 


146      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

directed  by  one  of  the  aged  poore  knights,  they  did  light  on 
a  vault  in  the  middle  thereof  .  .  .  where  they  discovered 
the  coffins  of  Henry  YIIL  and  Jane  Seymour."  There  they 
decided  to  lay  the  body  of  Charles.  Only  the  w^ords  "  King 
Charles,  1648,"  were  cut  in  relief  "on  a  scarfe  of  lead,"  and 
soldered  on  to  the  coffin.  The  next  day  the  sad  procession 
formed,  the  coffin  being  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  soldiers 
from  the  garrison.  "  Over  it,"  says  Fuller,  "  was  a  blacke 
velvet  herse-cloth,  the  foure  labels  whereof  the  foure  lords 
did  support.  The  Bishop  of  London  stood  weeping  by,  to 
tender  that  his  service  which  might  not  be  accepted.  There 
was  it  deposited  in  silence  and  sorrow,  in  the  vacant  place 
in  the  vault,  the  herse-cloth  being  cast  in  after  it.  The 
lords  that  night,  though  late,  returned  to  London." 

Herbert,  one  of  the  royal  attendants,  states  that  when  the 
coffin  was  first  brought  out  "  the  sky  was  serene  and  clear, 
but  presently  it  began  to  snow,  and  the  snow  fell  so  fast 
that  by  the  time  the  corpse  had  reached  the  west  end  of  the 
chapel,  the  black  pall  was  all  white  " — a  circumstance  ever 
after  interpreted  by  the  Royalists  as  indicative  of  the  king's 
innocence.  Only  for  those  of  blameless  life  was  a  "  white 
funeral "  permitted. 

At  a  later  date  a  rumour  was  circulated  to  the  effect  that 
the  king's  body  had  not  been  buried  at  Windsor.  It  was 
even  said  that  the  soldiers  had  taken  it  to  Tyburn  for 
interment,  but  when  the  coffin  was  opened  in  April,  1813, 
before  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Sir  Henry  Halford,  and  others, 
the  remains  that  they  saw  left  no  room  for  doubt  that  the 
body  of  Charles  himself  lay  there.^ 

1  A  small  piece  of  bone  from  the  king's  neck  with  some  hair  clinging 
to  it  was  stolen  from  the  coffin  at  this  time,  but  it  eventually  fell  into  the 
hands  of  King  Edward  VII.,  then  Prince  of  Wales,  and  he  caused  it 
o  be  restored  to  its  place  in  the  coffin  of  Charles. 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  147 

A  House  of  Commons  of  a  different  temper  in  1G77-78 
granted  ;r70,ooo  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a  solemn  inter- 
ment for  the  late  king  and  the  erection  of  a  suitable  monu- 
ment to  his  memory,  but  though  Charles  11.  received  the 
money,  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren  prepared  a  plan  for  the 
tomb,  the  scheme  was  never  carried  out.  To  this  day  the 
"  martyr  king "  rests  as  he  was  laid  by  Juxon  and  the 
faithful  four. 

It  is  pitiable  to  think  of  the  wreck  to  which  the  soldiers  of 
the  Commonwealth  reduced  the  king's  castle  of  Windsor. 
St.  George's  Hall  was  stripped  of  its  knightly  shields,  the 
works  of  art  that  Charles  had  accumulated  were  sold,  as  well 
as  many  of  the  historical  treasures  of  the  place.  Cromwell 
alone  saved  the  castle  from  utter  spoliation. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Charles  an  Act  was  passed  in 
Parliament  for  the  sale  of  the  "  honours,  manors,  and 
lands "  belonging  to  the  Crown.  A  commission  was 
appointed  in  February,  1648-49,  for  further  consideration  of 
the  best  use  to  be  made  of  the  royal  property,  and  it  was 
decided  that  the  greater  part  was  to  be  kept  "  for  the  public 
use  of  the  Commonwealth."  Windsor  was  to  be  preserved 
as  a  garrison  for  the  troops  of  the  Parliament.  Whitelock 
was  appointed  "  Constable  of  Windsor  Castle,  Keeper  of 
Forests,  Parks,  Warrens,  etc.,  and  Lieutenant  of  the  said 
castle  and  forest  "  in  1657. 

Cromwell  occasionally  resided  at  Windsor,  and  exerted 
himself  for  the  preservation  of  the  castle  and  its  contents. 
He  brought  back  some  of  the  ancient  order,  in  a  lame  and 
broken  manner,  shorn  of  its  glory,  as  he  instituted  a  regular 
establishment  to  keep  up  the  services  in  the  chapel,  and 
attached  to  it  again  the  foundation  of  Poor  Knights.  As  a 
token  of  their  gratitude,  a  number  of  them.  Royalists  as  they 

L   2 


148      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

were,  afterwards  attended  the  funeral  of  the  "Lord  Pro- 
tector "  at  Westminster.  Evelyn  described  it  as  "  the 
joyfullest  funeral  he  ever  saw,"  but  the  people  of  England 
have  much  for  which  to  be  grateful  to  Cromwell. 

Until  his  death  in  1660  Windsor  remained  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Republican  army.  "  Grim,  solid  and 
impregnable,"  the  castle  once  more  fulfilled  the  function  of  a 
fortress,  but  with  the  Restoration  the  sword  that  had 
remained  unsheathed  for  the  preservation  of  peace  was  put 
back  into  its  scabbard,  and  the  king  **  returned  to  his  own 
again." 

The  first  act  of  Charles  II.  with  regard  to  Windsor  was 
to  clear  the  precincts  of  a  great  number  of  unauthorised 
persons  who  had  come  to  live  there.  The  justices  of  the 
peace  were  commanded  to  "  take  care  of  the  poor  women 
and  children  who  are  commanded  out  of  the  castle  of  New 
Windsor." 

Early  in  1661  measures  were  taken  to  restore  the  Order  of 
the  Garter,  filling  up  the  vacant  offices,  and  installing  various 
knights,  including  Prince  Rupert,  who  had  been  elected 
since  the  commencement  of  the  Civil  War.  General  Monk 
(afterwards  Duke  of  Albemarle)  and  Admiral  Edward 
Montagu  (afterwards  Earl  of  Sandwich)  had  been  declared 
Companions  of  the  Order  directly  after  the  arrival  of  Charles. 
In  April,  1661,  twelve  new  Companions,  including  those 
already  mentioned,  were  installed,  and  money  was  raised  by 
subscription  from  the  Knights  of  the  Garter  to  restore  the 
lost  fittings  of  St.  George's  Chapel. 

After  an  interval  of  many  years,  a  grand  Feast  of  St.  George 
was  once  more  held  at  the  castle  in  1662.  Ashmole  records 
*'  that  the  knights  were  constrained  to  receive  their  investi- 
ture below  in  the  choir,  yet  directly  under  their  proper  stalls," 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  149 

owing  to  "  the  great  concourse  of  people,  which  at  that  time 
had  flockt  to  Windsor  (greedy  to  behold  the  glory  of  that 
solemnity,  which  for  many  years  was  intermitt'd)  and  rudely 
forced,  not  only  into  and  filled  the  lower  row  of  stalls,  but 
taken  up  almost  the  whole  choir." 

Of  the  first  Feast  of  St.  George  after  Charles's  marriage, 
Pepys  wrote  that  "  Lady  Castlemaine  was  at  Windsor  this 
St.  George's  Feast,  and  came  back  with  the  king  last  night. 
The  queen  is  much  grieved  of  late  at  the  king's  neglect." 
It  was  not  only  Lady  Castlemaine,  most  imperious  of 
women,  that  the  queen  was  forced  to  receive ;  on  this 
occasion  the  son  of  Lucy  Crofts,  a  former  favourite  of  the 
king,  who  had  been  created  Duke  of  Monmouth,  and  married 
to  Anne,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch, 
was  installed  a  Knight  of  the  Garter.  He  was  said  to  be 
"a  pretty  boy,"  and  the  queen  very  graciously  danced  with 
him.  The  king  came  in  and  was  greeted  by  Monmouth, 
naturally  with  his  hat  in  his  hand.  Charles  kissed  him  and 
told  him  to  put  on  the  hat,  "  which  everybody  took  notice 
of,  and  he  would  hardly  have  done  as  Prince  of  Wales," 
says  Pepys.  At  the  time  there  was  much  gossip  as  to  the 
king's  supposed  intention  to  acknowledge  him  as  a  legiti- 
mate son. 

Windsor  became  the  "  habitual  summer  residence  "  of 
the  king,  and  as  Charles  desired  to  model  his  Court  on  that 
of  Versailles,  it  was  necessary  to  make  alterations  in  the 
building  on  a  larger  scale  than  had  hitherto  been  attempted 
since  the  time  of  Edward  III.  John  Evelyn,  the  diarist, 
speaks  of  the  old  rooms  as  being  "  melancholy  and  of 
ancient    magnificence."      In    August,    1670,^   he   says    that 

The  repairs  were  started,  as  far  as  can  be  discovered  without  going 
into  the  original  accounts,  in  1665. 


I50      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


"  Windsor  is  now  going  to  be  repaired,  being  exceedingly 
ragged  and  ruinous,"  and  he  describes  the  manner  in  which 
Prince  Rupert,  who  had  been  appointed  constable,  had 
begun  to  "  trim  up  the  keep,"  filling  the  hall  with  "  furniture 
of  arms,"  and  the  other  rooms  "  with  tapestry  and  effeminate 
pictures,  so  extremely  different  from  the  other,  which 
presented  nothing  but  war  and  horror."  ^ 

Evelyn  also  gives  a  picture  of  the  king's  life  at  Windsor : 
"  He  passed  most  of  his  time  in  hunting  the  stag  and 
walking  in  the  park,  which  he  was  now  planting  with  rows 
of  trees."  Charles  was  among  the  first  to  plant  symmetrical 
avenues  in  England,  and  the  Long  Walk  at  Windsor  is  one 
of  the  best  examples. 

The  state  apartments  were  entirely  remodelled  during 
this  reign,  and  were  begun  in  1665,  under  Sir  Christopher 
Wren  ^  and  the  nominal  Surveyor-General,  Sir  John  Denham. 
The  best  artists  available  were  employed  on  the  decoration 
of  the  interior,  and  though  few  can  share  in  the  enthusiastic 
appreciation  of  his  contemporaries  for  the  paintings  of  Verrio, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  had  a  fair  conception  of 
dignified  and  artistic  treatment  for  the  vast  spaces  he  had  to 
cover.^  A  certain  coarseness  of  design  and  heaviness  of 
colour  were  almost  inevitable  in  the  execution  of  work 
which,  gauged  by  the  enormous  area  it  filled  at  Windsor  and 
at  Hampton  Court,  was  stupendous  indeed,  though  posterity 
cannot  quite  endorse  the  verdict  of  Evelyn  in  1679,  who  said 
that  "  the  work  of  that  excellent  painter  Verrio  in  the  king's 

^  Prince  Rupert's  tilting  armour,  in  steel  and  gold,  is  now  in  the 
armoury  at  Windsor.  There  are  also  suits  of  armour  worn  by  Henry, 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  his  brother  Charles  I. 

^  The  new  building  was  generally  assigned  to  Wren,  but  later  research 
has  made  this  questionable. 

*  Only  three  of  Verrio's  ceilings  now  remain  uncovered  at  Windsor. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  151 

palace  at  Windsor  will  celebrate  his  name  as  long  as  there 
walls  last,"  and  compares  his  painting  with  that  of  Raphael.^ 
There  can  be  no  two  opinions,  however,  concerning  the 
exquisite  beauty  and  wonderful  softness  of  Grinling  Gibbons's 
carving,  of  which  some  of  the  best  specimens  appear  at 
Windsor.  The  new  building,  originally  called  the  "  Star  " 
but  later  the  "  Stuart  "  building,  extends  from  Henry  the 
Seventh's  Tower  eastward  along  the  terrace  for  170  feet. 
The  north  terrace  was  enlarged  to  its  present  extent,  and  was 
thrown  open  for  the  use  of  the  Dean  and  Canons,  a  privilege 
the  public  has  always  been  permitted  to  share.  St.  George's 
Hall  was  fitted  up  as  a  theatre  in  1674,  ^^'^  ^^^  Christopher 
Wren,  who  was  then  surveyor,  was  ordered  to  make  "  such 
alterations  in  it  as  the  French  comedians  should  direct."  ^ 

A  sinister  sidelight  is  thrown  on  the  unscrupulous  dealings 
of  some  of  the  king's  followers  by  an  episode  concerning 
Lord  Mordaunt,  who  had  been  appointed  constable  of  the 
castle  at  the  Restoration  (1660).  He  was  impeached  in  the 
House  of  Commons  for  his  tyranny  and  other  offences  in 
turning  out  a  man  called  Taylor,  clerk  to  the  constable,  from 
rooms  that  he  occupied  in  the  castle.  Pep3's  puts  the  case 
in  unvarnished  language:  "Into  the  House  of  Parliament, 
where,  at  a  great  committee  I  did  hear,  as  long  as  I  would, 
the  great  case  against  my  Lord  Mordaunt,  for  some  arbitrary 
proceeding  of  his  against  one  Taylor,  whom  he  imprisoned, 
and  did  all  the  violence  imaginable,  only  to  get  him  to  give 
way  to  yield  up  his  daughter  to  my  Lord  Mordaunt  .  .  ." 
The  committee  found  his  proceedings  illegal  and  arbitrary, 

'  On  June  30,  1684,  the  king  "being  very  well  satisfied  with  the  ar 
and  industry  of  Sieur  Antonio  Verrio  has  been  pleased  to  make  him  hi 
chief  and  first  painter." 

"  MS.  in  Office  of  Works,  cit.  Annals  of  Windsor,  vol.  ii. 


152      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

and,  after  great  difficulties  as  to  procedure  between  the  two 
Houses,  Lord  Mordaunt  was  superseded  as  constable  by 
Prince  Rupert,  and  a  further  committee  appointed  to 
consider  the  matter  in  detail.  No  report  was  ever  made  by 
this  committee,  and,  according  to  Pepys,  Lord  Mordaunt 
continued  his  persecution  of  the  unfortunate  Taylor. 

In  May,  1670,  the  Feast  of  St.  George  was  celebrated  by 
the  king,  queen,  and  Duke  of  York  with  great  splendour, 
the  Court  remaining  at  Windsor  till  the  middle  of  July, 
"  extremely  satisfied  with  the  pleasantness  of  that  princely 
seat."  In  August  the  king  returned  more  than  once  for 
several  days  at  a  time  to  hunt.  At  Christmas  the  Prince 
of  Orange  visited  Windsor  and  was  entertained  by  Prince 
Rupert,  "  the  great  guns  being  fired  round  the  castle  to 
proclaim  his  welcome."^  He  made  the  customary  offering 
as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  in  the  chapel,  and  proceeded  to 
Oxford  the  next  day. 

Evelyn  has  given  an  interesting  account  01  an  entertain- 
ment that  took  place  at  Windsor  in  the  summer  of  1674, 
when  a  "  counterfeit  presentment"  of  the  town  of  Maestricht, 
lately  taken  by  the  French,  was  made  in  a  meadow  at  the 
foot  of  the  terrace.  "  It  was  attacked  by  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth  (lately  come  from  the  real  siege)  and  the  Duke 
of  York,  with  a  little  army  to  show  their  skill  in  tactics  .  .  . 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  a  thousand  spectators.  Being 
night  it  made  a  formidable  show." 

In  August,  1679,  the  king  was  seriously  ill  at  Windsor,  so 
that  the  Duke  of  York  returned  in  haste  from  Flanders,  but 
in  September  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  London 


'  This  seems  to  be  the  first  record  of  guns  being  fired  at  Windsor  as  a 
salute. 


WINDSOR   CASTLE  153 


arrived  "  in  their  scarlett  gowns  "  to  congratulate  the  king 
on  his  happy  recovery. 

Prince  George  of  Denmark,  the  husband  of  Princess 
(afterwards  Queen)  Anne,  was  installed  as  a  Knight  of  the 
Garter  in  April,  1684.  In  August  the  Court  left  for 
Winchester,  and  in  the  following  February  the  king  died 
at  Whitehall,  characteristically  asking  his  queen's  pardon 
"  with  all  his  heart,"  but  also  remembering  to  say  "  Let  not 
poor  Nelly  starve."  ^ 

James  II.  was  proclaimed  king  at  Windsor  on  February  g, 
1684-85.  In  June,  1685,  the  "achievements"  of  the  Duke 
of  Monmouth  were  removed  from  St.  George's  Chapel  and 
after  the  usual  custom  "  kicked  into  the  castle  ditch."  The 
same  year  the  notorious  Judge  Jeffreys  returned  from  that 
western  circuit  known  as  "the  Bloody  Assizes  '"  to  Windsor, 
where  he  received  the  Great  Seal  as  Lord  Chancellor.  "  He 
arrived  there  from  the  west,"  says  a  contemporary  writer, 
"  leaving  carnage,  mourning,  and  terror  behind  him." 

James  revived  the  custom  of  "  touching  for  the  kings' 
evil,"  and  it  is  recorded  that  fifty-four  persons  of  the  parish 
and  school  of  Eton  were  "  touched  "  between  September, 
1686,  and  September,  1688.  It  is  said  that  in  1686  "  at  his 
healinge  of  the  evil  the  king  began  at  Windsor  to  make  use 
of  the  Latin  service  and  his  own  priest,"  so  little  did  he 
comprehend  the  feeling  and  temper  of  the  nation.  The 
"  tomb-house,"  which  was  being  painted  by  Verrio,  was 
fitted  up  for  the  public  celebration  of  the  Mass."^ 

In  July,  1687,  James  showed  his  final  touch  of  disregard 

>  She  had  a  house  that  he  had  given  her  at  Windsor,  '•  Burford  House," 
which  afterwards  belonged  to  her  son,  the  Duke  of  St.  Albans. 

2  Now  the  Albert  Memorial  Chapel,  in  which  none  of  Verrio's  painting 
or  any  of  the  original  fittings  remain. 


154      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

for  the  religious  scruples  of  his  subjects.  He  received  in 
state  at  Windsor  the  Pope's  Nuncio,  d'Adda,  Archbishop 
of  Amasia.  He  and  his  company  came  to  the  castle  "  by 
thirty-six  coaches,  with  six  horses  each  ...  In  the  outward 
court  they  all  alighted  out  of  the  coaches,  and  went  up 
stayers  into  Saint  George  his  hall,  where  were  the  king 
and  queen,  seated  on  two  chaires  under  a  canopy.  He 
made  three  bowes,  and  at  the  second  the  king  and  queen 
both  stood  up  and  sate  not  downe  again  until  he  had  ended 
his  speeches,  who  answered  him  severally,  and  againe  he 
returned."  This  visit  caused  great  excitement  in  the 
vicinity.  "  The  town  of  Windsor  was  so  full  of  all  sorts 
of  people,  from  all  parts,  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  get 
provisions  or  room  either  for  horse  or  man,  nay,  many 
persons  of  quality  and  others  were  forced  to  sit  in  their 
coaches  or  calashes  almost  all  the  day  ...  by  reason  that 
there  has  not  been  any  public  minister  of  State  from  the  Pope, 
for  above  140  years,  that  hath  made  any  public  entry."  ^ 

James  Francis  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  known  after- 
wards as  the  "  Elder  Pretender,"  was  born  at  Windsor, 
though  not  in  the  castle,^  on  June  16,  1688.  There  appears 
to  have  been  no  foundation  for  the  report  that  his  half- 
sisters  Mary  and  Anne  are  said  to  have  believed  that  he  was 
a  supposititious  child.  From  his  birth  he  was  exceedingly 
sickly,  and  a  curious  account  is  given  of  his  nurse,  "  a  tyle- 
maker's  wife  .  .  .  She  came  in  her  cloth  petticoat  and 
waistcoat,  and  old  shoes  with  no  stockings  .  .  .  she  is  now 
rigged  by  degrees." 

*  It  is  said  that  after  the  reception  the  populace  broke  the  windows  of 
St.  George's  Chapel. 

2  At  Burford  House  in  the  town,  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  St.  Albans, 
originally  given  to  Nell  Gwyn  by  Charles  II. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  155 

The  reign  of  James  II.  was  nearly  at  an  end  when  his  son 
was  born.  On  November  5,  16S8,  the  Prince  of  Orange 
landed  at  Torbay,  and  on  November  17  the  king  and  Prince 
George  of  Denmark  left  Whitehall  for  Windsor,  and  on  the 
following  day  proceeded  to  Salisbury,  where  the  royal  forces 
were  to  assemble.  On  December  14  William  arrived  at 
Windsor,  and  a  memorable  council  was  held  there  to  decide 
the  future  fate  of  the  king. 

James,  as  a  last  hope,  sent  Lord  Faversham  with  a  friendly 
message  to  William,  but  on  his  arrival  he  was  accused  of 
treason  and  conveyed  to  the  Round  Tower.  He  was  the 
last  State  prisoner  in  the  castle,  and  was  liberated  shortly 
afterwards  on  the  request  of  Katherine  of  Braganza,  whose 
chamberlain  he  w^as.  James  decided  to  go  to  Rochester, 
and  had  left  London  before  William  arrived. 

In  the  British  Museum  is  an  inventory  of  the  pictures  and 
furniture  in  the  castle  at  this  period.  There  are  said  to  have 
been  only  127  pictures. 

The  new  king  and  queen  were  proclaimed  at  Windsor, 
which  always  seems  to  have  been  the  most  fickle  of  towns, 
"with  rejoicings"  in  April,  i68g.^  In  November,  i6gi, 
there  were  great  festivities  on  the  occasion  of  the  king's 
birthday  at  the  new  Guildhall  of  the  Corporation  of  Windsor, 
where  the  mayor  and  his  company  feasted.  Bells  were  rung 
and  bonfires  lighted,  "  with  other  demonstrations  of  joy  and 
loyalty  suitable  to  the  occasion." 

William  and  Mary  were  not  often  at  Windsor ;  they 
preferred  Hampton  Court  as  a  residence,  possibly  because 
the  late  king  had  never  lived  there.     Macaulay  says  that 

•  James  had  had  tokens  of  the  state  of  feehng  in  the  town  when  the 
windows  of  St.  George's  Chapel  were  broken  after  his  reception  of  the 
Papal  Nuncio. 


156      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

**  William  was  never  so  happy  as  when  he  could  quit 
the  magnificence  of  Windsor  for  his  far  humbler  seat  at 
Loo."  He  built  a  wall  round  the  park,  which  has  since 
been  removed,  and  finished  the  Long  Walk  begun  by 
Charles  IL 

Princess  Anne  and  her  little  son,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
were  assigned  apartments  at  Windsor,  and  many  stories  are 
told  of  the  precocious  military  tastes  of  the  duke.  On  one 
occasion  William  found  the  boy  holding  a  little  musket, 
with  which  he  presented  arms  to  his  uncle.  The  king 
asked  him  what  he  was  doing,  and  was  told  **  Learning  my 
drill,  that  I  may  help  you  to  beat  the  French." 

William  installed  him  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  imme- 
diately after  this  speech.  He  was  allowed  to  have  four 
Eton  boys  as  playmates,  with  whom  he  indulged  in  all  sorts 
of  mimic  warfare.  On  July  24,  1700,  a  great  ball  and  fire- 
works were  given  in  honour  of  the  young  prince's  birthday, 
but  he  became  ill  almost  immediately  afterwards,  and  died 
on  July  30,  as  the  London  Gazette  truly  said,  **  to  the 
inexpressible  grief  of  their  Royal  Highnesses,  and  the 
sensible  sorrow  of  the  whole  nation."  ^ 

This  child's  death  was  indeed  an  event  of  importance  to 
the  nation.  Shortly  afterwards  the  Act  of  Settlement  was 
altered,  and  the  inheritance  to  the  throne  vested  in  **  the 
Princess  Sophia  Dorothea,  Electress  of  Hanover,  and  her 
descendants,  being  Protestants,  in  default  of  direct  heirs  of 
William  and  his  sister-in-law  Anne." 

Several  installations  of  Knights  of  the  Garter  were  held 
at  Windsor  during  this  reign,  but  no  feasts  of  St.  George. 
Ceremonial  of  any  kind  was  abhorrent  to  William. 

*  He  was  buried  at  Westminster. 


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WINDSOR    CASTLE  157 

It  is  said  that  during  the  later  part  of  his  hfe  he  contem- 
plated improvements  at  Windsor  on  thcscalcof  those  he  had 
effected  at  Hampton  Court,  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren  pre- 
pared plans  for  such  alterations,  which  are  now  in  the  library' 
of  All  Souls  College,  Oxford.  The  castle  was  in  fact  much 
neglected,  even  as  to  ordinary  repairs. 

Queen  Anne  succeeded  in  March,  1702,  and  in  December, 
1703,  Charles  III.,  King  of  Spain,  was  received  by  her  at 
Windsor.  The  London  Gazette  of  December  31  gives  an 
account  of  this  visit,  which  appears  to  have  been  as  cere- 
monious and  uninteresting  as  Anne's  entertainments  usually 
were.^  The  shades  of  Elizabeth  and  Philip  of  Spain  may  well 
have  gazed  in  wonder  at  the  dull  decorum  of  their  successors. 

The  queen  interested  herself  in  the  gardens,  on  which  she 
spent  ^40,000,  and  made  numerous  drives  for  herself  in  the 
park,  including  the  carriage-way  down  the  Long  Walk,  as 
she  liked  to  hunt  in  a  chaise,  driving  herself,  as  Swift  says, 
"  like  Jehu  furiously."  Swift  also  describes  her  as  being  "  an 
exact  observer  of  form,"  even  to  the  smallest  detail  of  dress 
among  her  attendants.  She  lived  so  quietly  that  "  except  on 
Sundays,  and  a  few  hours  twice  or  thrice  a  week  at  night  in 
the  drawing-room,  she  appears  so  little  that  her  Court  is,  as 
it  were,  abandoned."  ^  Swift  declares  that  the  queen  had 
**  neither  the  patience  to  bear,  nor  the  spirit  to  subdue  "  the 
imperious  ascendency  which  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough, 
for  a  time  at  all  events,  obtained  over  her. 

The  news  of  the  "glorious  victory"  of  Blenheim  was 
brought  to  Anne  as  she  sat  in  an  orieP  of  the  library  at 

'  Swift  has  left  a  description  of  the  dull  and  shy  manner  in  which  she 
habitually  received  her  guests. 

2  Burnet :  History  of  his  Own  Times. 

»  This  window  was  originally  part  of  the  building  of  Henry  VII.,  not 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  gallery. 


158      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


Windsor,  overlooking  the  park.  The  duchess  had  received 
a  few  hasty  Hnes  from  her  husband,  begging  her  to  announce 
to  the  queen  that  "  her  army  had  had  a  glorious  victory. 
Mons.  Tallard  and  two  other  generals  are  in  my  coach." 

The  bearer  of  the  letter,  Colonel  Parke,  was  at  once  brought 
into  the  queen's  presence,  travel-stained  as  he  was,  having 
ridden  day  and  night  from  the  battlefield  to  bring  the  joyful 
tidings  as  expeditiously  as  possible.^  The  queen,  it  is  said, 
"  rejoiced  passively."  Swift  observed  that  "  there  was  not  in 
all  England  a  person  who  understood  more  artificially  to 
disguise  her  passions"  than  Queen  Anne.  The  duchess  took 
no  pains  to  hide  her  overwhelming  pride  and  her  inflated 
sense  of  importance.  She  agreed  with  Addison  concerning 
her  lord — 

Calm  and  serene  he  drives  the  furious  blast ; 
And,  pleased  the  Almighty's  orders  to  perform 
Rides  in  the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm. 

The  only  storm  and  whirlwind  over  which  he  had  no 
control  was  the  duchess  herself. 

In  England  the  news  was  received  naturally  with  tremen- 
dous enthusiasm  and  exultation. 

The  manor  of  Woodstock  was  granted  to  the  duke  "  to  be 
holden  as  of  the  Castle  of  Windsor  in  common  socage  by 
fealty,  he  rendering  yearly,  on  2nd  August,  the  anniversary 
of  Blenheim  (fought  in  1704),  at  the  Castle  of  Windsor  one 
standard  or  colours  with  three  fleurs-de-luces  painted  there- 
upon." 2    This  tribute  is  still  punctually  rendered,  and  the 

'  The  oriel  window  in  the  library  was  much  altered  by  Wyatville.  In 
it  hangs  a  reproduction  of  the  duke's  hasty  note,  and  a  portrait  of  Colonel 
Parke. 

2  Harl.  MSS.,  No.  2262. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  159 

manor  of  Strathfieldsaye  is  held  by  the  Dukes  of  Welhngton 
under  a  similar  title. ^ 

The  works  in  the  state  apartments  of  Charles  II.  were 
brought  to  an  end  in  the  reign  of  Anne  by  the  painting  of  the 
great  staircase  by  Sir  James  Thornhill.  The  queen  had  to 
lay  out  considerable  sums  on  necessary  repairs  in  the  castle, 
which  she  seems  to  have  preferred  to  Hampton  Court  as  a 
residence.  Both  she  and  Prince  George  of  Denmark  were 
popular  in  the  town,  and  their  effigies  still  adorn  the  market 
place.^ 

George  I.  and  George  II.  lived  very  little  at  Windsor  ;  they 
both  liked  Hampton  Court  and  Kensington  and  spent  the 
greater  part  of  their  time  in  those  palaces  when  they  were  in 
England.  Queen  Caroline's  favourite  architect,  Kent,  did 
some  repainting  (unfortunately)  in  St.  George's  Hall  and  the 
guard-room,  but  when  George  II.  died  he  left  the  castle  in 
a  very  dilapidated  state.*^ 

George  III.  had  a  decided  fondness  for  Windsor,  but 
eighteen  years  after  his  accession  it  was  decided  that  the 
castle  was  uninhabitable.  Most  of  the  rooms  had  been  given 
up  to  private  people,  who  had  acquired  apartments  during 
the  preceding  reigns.  Even  the  slope  of  the  ditch  was  let  on 
lease  as  a  market  garden.  A  new  house  was  therefore  built 
for  the  king,  a  long  narrow  building  with  battlements,  of  no 
particular  style,  facing  the  south  terrace  and  occupying  the 
site  of  the  present  stables.  It  was  known  as  "  the  Queen's 
Lodge,"  and  there  the  royal  family  lived  in  homely  simplicity, 


1  The  colours  hang  in  the  armoury  over  marble  busts  of  the  first  dukes. 

^  There  is  a  small  portrait  of  Prince  George  and  his  signature  as  Lord 
High  Admiral  on  a  naval  paper  in  the  library  at  Windsor, 

*  Collier's  plan  of  the  town  and  castle  made  in  1742  shows  the  changes 
since  Nordern's  survey,  temp.  James  I. 


i6o      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

much  beloved  by  their  neighbours,  to  whom  they  were 
always  accessible.  The  king  had  a  most  friendly,  affable 
manner,  and  besides  what  is  known  as  a  "royal  memory" 
for  faces,  he  never  failed  to  inquire  after  every  subject 
that  he  thought  would  please.  Unlike  his  immediate  pre- 
decessors, he  was  a  thorough  Englishman,  loved  everything 
English,  and  fully  deserved  his  pseudonym  of  "  Farmer 
George." 

The  life  of  this  royal  family  at  Windsor  has  been  made 
familiar  to  all  the  world  by  Fanny  Burney's^  inimitable 
"  Diary."  Some  of  her  best  descriptions  are  of  the  family 
walks  on  the  terrace  every  evening.  In  1785  she  thus  por- 
trays one  of  these  characteristic  progresses :  *'  The  king  and 
queen  and  the  Prince  of  Mecklenburgh  and  Her  Majesty's 
mother  walked  together.  Next  to  them  the  princesses  and 
their  ladies  and  the  young  princes,  making  a  very  gay  and 
pleasing  procession  of  one  of  the  finest  families  in  the  world. 
Every  way  they  moved  the  crowd  retired  to  stand  up  against 
the  wall  as  they  passed,  and  then  closed  in  to  follow."  On 
another  occasion,  "  the  terrace  was  very  full,  all  Windsor  and 
the  neighbourhood  poured  in  upon  it,  to  see  the  prince  "  (the 
Duke  of  York,  after  an  absence  of  seven  years,  in  1787).  The 
most  interesting  and  pathetic  part  of  Miss  Burney's  narrative 
is  concerned  with  the  gradual  increase  of  the  king's  mental 
disorder,  which  first  became  distressingly  apparent  in  1788. 
She  describes  graphically  the  awful  stillness  and  gloom  that 
pervaded  the  castle  on  the  night  of  the  fatal  5th  of  November, 
when  the  physicians  had  been  sent  for,  and  the  household 
awaited  their  verdict  in  a  silence  that  could  be  felt,  and  with 

'  Better  known  as  Madame  d'Arblay  ;  she  was  the  author  of  two  famous 
novels,  Evelina  and  Cecilia,  and  the  friend  of  Dr.  Johnson  and  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds.     She  was  a  wardrobe-keeper  to  the  Queen  for  five  years. 


WINDSOR    CASTLI-:  i6i 

anxiety  no  less  consuming  because  they  were  still  ignorant  of 
the  real  cause  of  that  anxiety.  At  last,  early  the  next  morning, 
the  physicians  went  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  in 
another  part  of  the  castle,  and  the  queen  was  told  that  she 
must  be  removed  to  a  more  distant  apartment.  The  Prince 
of  Wales  carried  matters  with  a  high  hand,  and  the  queen 
spent  her  time  in  retirement  with  the  princesses  and  her 
ladies.  The  king  was  afterwards  prevailed  upon  to  go  to 
Kew,  and  Miss  Burney  says  "  all  Windsor  was  collected  .  .  . 
to  witness  the  mournful  spectacle  of  his  departure,  which  left 
them  without  a  ray  of  hope  to  see  him  again." 

In  March,  1789,  he  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  return  to 
Windsor  on  horseback,  attended  by  a  large  party  of  gentlemen. 
"  Everything  and  everybody  were  smiling  and  lively  .  .  . 
all  Windsor  came  out  to  meet  the  king,"  and  in  the  evening 
a  great  display  of  fireworks  took  place,  which  the  royal  family 
witnessed  from  the  windows  of  their  house.  The  king's 
blindness  increased  rapidly,  and  he  seldom  left  Windsor 
again,  but  he  constantly  attended  the  services  in  St.  George's 
Chapel,  rode  on  horseback  with  a  groom  on  each  side  of 
him,  and  walked  on  the  terrace  every  evening  with  his 
daughters,  hearing  the  band  play,  and  stopping  constantly 
to  speak  to  his  friends.  Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  his  private 
secretary,  records  that  his  loss  of  sight  was  borne  with 
exemplary  patience  and  resignation. 

After  the  Princess  Amelia's  death  in  1810  his  mental  con- 
dition became  worse  ;  he  talked  incessantly,  and  was  the  prey 
of  constant  delusions.  The  Prince  of  Wales  was  appointed 
Regent,  and  the  king  lived  for  ten  years  longer  in  a  piteous 
state  of  mental  and  visual  blindness.  He  is  said  to  have 
believed  himself  already  dead,  and  to  have  asked  for 
"  mourning  to  wear  for  King  George  III.,"  but  he  outlived 

R.P.  M 


i62      ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

his  queen  Charlotte,  and  six  of  his  children  and  grandchildren  ^ 
were  carried  to  the  royal  vault  in  St.  George's  Chapel  before 
him.  The  father  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  the  Duke  of 
Kent,  George's  third  son,  died  and  was  buried  at  Windsor 
only  a  few  days  before  his  father. 

George  III.  had  outlived  political  animosity  and  died 
amidst  the  general  good  will  of  his  people.  The  Princess 
Elizabeth  wrote  of  him  :  "  In  the  hearts  of  his  children  and 
his  subjects  he  will  ever  live." 

The  scene  of  his  funeral,  which  took  place  at  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening  of  February  lo,  1821,  was  most  impressive  and 
imposing.  The  long  array  of  "  mourners,  clothed  in  sables, 
heralds  in  their  brilliant  tabards,  princes  of  the  Blood  in  sad- 
coloured  mantles,"  ^  moved  by  torchlight  from  the  principal 
entrance  of  the  castle  to  St.  George's  Chapel,  along  a  route 
draped  in  black  cloth  and  lined  by  soldiers  holding  torches. 
The  tolling  of  the  castle  bell,  the  lingering  roll  of  muffled 
drums,  the  sound  of  minute  guns,  all  added  to  the  strange 
solemnity  of  the  ceremony.  The  procession  was  received  at 
the  chapel  door  by  the  Dean  and  Canons  with  the  choir,  and 
entered  the  chapel  to  the  strains  of  the  favourite  anthem  *'  I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth."  ^ 

The  coffin  rested  in  the  choir  while  the  burial  service  was 
read  by  the  Dean  of  Windsor  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ; 
when  it  was  at  last  lowered  into  the  vault.  Garter  King-at- 
Arms  proclaimed  the  titles  of  the  late  king,  and  the  mournful 
procession  once  more  formed  and  left  the  chapel,  while  the 

^  Among  them  the  Princess  Charlotte,  daughter  of  George  IV.,  who 
died  at  Claremont  in  1817.  Her  monument  in  St.  George's  Chapel  is  by 
Matthew  Wyatt,  and  is  graceful  and  expressive  if  not  very  artistic. 

^  Jesse  :  Memoirs  of  George  III.,  vol.  iii.,  594-595. 

^  George  III.  was  a  great  lover  of  Handel's  music. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  163 

soldiers  who  had  hned  the  dim  aisles,  with  tapers  in  their 
hands,  extin^iii^uished  their  lights  and  departed. 

George  III.  was  the  first  king  who  died  at  Windsor,  and 
it  is  said  that  he  and  William  IV.  and  the  Prince  Consort 
all  died  in  the  same  room. 

The  new  king  found  the  castle  in  a  state  of  absolute 
ruin  that  called  for  immediate  repair  if  the  fabric  were  to 
be  preserved.  The  building  as  it  now  appears  is  chiefly 
the  work  of  Sir  Jeffrey  Wyatville,  to  whom  the  restoration 
was  entrusted.^  It  was  not  finished  till  the  reign  of 
Victoria,  and  George  IV.  himself  resided  in  the  Royal 
(now  Cumberland)  Lodge,  at  the  end  of  the  Long  Walk, 
when  he  came  down  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  work. 
It  was  not  till  1828  that  he  was  able  to  take  possession 
of  the  new  state  apartments.  Wyatville's  original  drawings 
and  designs,  with  drawings  of  the  castle  as  it  appeared 
before  the  reconstruction  was  begun,  are  now  in  the  royal 
library  at  Windsor.  The  plans  and  estimates  approved  bear 
the  signatures  of  the  king  and  of  the  seven  commissioners'* 
appointed  by  Parliament  to  superintend  the  alterations. 

Wyatville  rebuilt  or  replaced  practically  the  whole  castle ; 
very  few  external  traces  are  left  of  the  earlier  building. 
His  work  has  often  been  criticised  in  an  adverse  spirit,  but 
the  restoration  was  a  necessity,  and  he  endeavoured  to 
preserve  the  Gothic  design  that  he  considered  characteristic. 
His  drawings  of  the  castle  in  its  former  state  make  it 
comprehensible  that  he  wished  to  give  height  to  the  whole 
edifice.  The  Stuart  building  can  be  spared,  but  it  is  a  matter 
for  regret  that  the  beautiful  oriel  window  of  Henry  VII.  at 

*  Some  work  had  been  done  by  Mr.  Wyatt,  the  uncle  of  Sir  Jeffrey. 
^  The   Duke   of  Wellington   and   Lord   Aberdeen  were   among    the 
commissioners. 

M    2 


i64      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  end  of  the  gallery  that  is  now  the  library  had  to  be 
taken  away  almost  entirely. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life  the  king's  illness  affected 
his  personal  appearance  to  an  extent  that  made  him  sensitive 
of  appearing  in  public ;  his  treatment  of  the  queen  and 
his  early  extravagance  had  made  him  unpopular,  and  the 
caricaturists  did  not  spare  him.  He  was  often  at  Windsor, 
living  in  great  retirement  at  the  lodge  in  the  park,  and 
driving  about  chiefly  within  the  park  limits,  and  he  only 
occupied  the  new  state  apartments  for  a  short  time  before 
his  death.  He  was  also  buried  in  St.  George's  Chapel  at 
night,  with  the  same  ceremonial,  but  without  the  demon- 
strations of  good  will  called  forth  by  the  death  of  his  father. 

William  IV.  continued  the  building  of  the  castle  and 
resided  there  constantly  with  his  queen  Adelaide.  The 
"  Sailor  King "  was  very  popular  at  Windsor  and  made 
himself  as  accessible  to  all  the  world  as  his  father  had 
been.  He  gave  constant  entertainments  for  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  the  unvarying  kindliness  and  gentleness  of  Queen 
Adelaide  endeared  her  to  all  who  knew  her.^  She  was 
always  the  most  generous  and  munificent  patroness  of  every 
work  of  charity  and  mercy. 

William  IV.  died  and  was  buried  at  Windsor,^  and  Queen 

1  The  writer's  aunt,  a  niece  of  Dr.  Keate,  the  well-known  Headmaster 
of  Eton,  who  is  still  living  and  remembers  perfectly  the  circumstance, 
has  often  described  a  children's  ball  at  the  castle,  to  which  she  was  taken 
as  a  child  of  five  years  old.  She  lost  sight  of  her  own  party  and  imme- 
diately ran  to  the  queen,  asking  to  be  taken  back  to  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Keate, 
with  whom  she  had  come.  The  queen  in  the  kindest  manner  complied 
with  this  request,  and  when  the  child  was  asked  why  she  had  troubled 
Her  Majesty,  she  said  that  the  queen  was  the  only  person  she  "  knew  "  in 
the  room. 

2  He  also  was  buried  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  with  the  same  solemn 
ceremonial  as  his  father  and  brother. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  165 

Victoria  very  soon  made  the  castle  one  of  her  favourite 
residences,  though  she  said  in  a  letter  to  the  King  of  the 
Belgians,  soon  after  her  accession,  that  "  Windsor  always 
appears  very  melancholy  to  me,  and  there  are  so  many  sad 
associations  with  it."  ^  Some  of  the  happiest  associations 
of  her  life  were  soon  to  be  connected  with  it.  After  the 
marriage  of  the  queen  and  Prince  Albert  on  February  10, 
1840,  they  drove  from  Buckingham  Palace,  where  the 
wedding  breakfast  had  taken  place,  to  Windsor,  remained 
there  till  February  14th,  and  then  returned  to  London.  She 
wrote  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians  the  day  after  her  marriage  ; 
"  I  write  to  you  from  here,  the  happiest,  happiest  being  that 
ever  existed.  Really  I  do  not  think  it  possible  for  anyone  in 
the  world  to  be  happier,  or  as  happy  as  I  am." 

No  doubt  she  afterwards  agreed  with  Lord  Melbourne  when 
he  said  that  "  after  all  there  is  nothing  like  Windsor  and 
the  park."  After  the  birth  of  his  majesty  King  Edward  VII. 
she  wrote  from  Windsor  again  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians, 
expressing  her  complete  happiness  and  satisfaction,  and  speak- 
ing gaily  of  "  our  awfully  large  nursery  establishment." 

On  January  4,  1843,  she  wrote  of  their  gaiety  at 
Windsor  :  "  We  have  been  very  gay :  danced  into  the  New 
Year,  and  again  last  night,  and  were  very  merry,  though  but 
a  very  small  party  :  young  and  old  danced." 

Every  year  the  queen  was  at  Windsor,  studying  and 
attending  to  "  the  public  and  weighty  affairs  of  the  State," 
as  Queen  Elizabeth  had  done,  but,  unlike  her,  enjoying  to 
the  full  her  domestic  happiness.  Royal  and  distinguished 
guests   came  and  went,   investitures  of    the  Garter,^  State 

'  Letters  of  Queen  Victoria,  1837-1860,  July  11,  1837. 
2  Lord  Roberts  was  the  last  Knight  of  the  Garter  to  receive  his  investi- 
ture from  the  queen's  own  hands. 


i66      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

banquets  and  balls  were  held,  splendid  receptions  were 
given.  Among  [the  most  famous  of  the  Garter  banquets 
was  one  held  in  honour  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  godfather 
of  Edward  VIL  ;  one  for  the  Czar  Nicholas  I.,  who  presented 
to  the  queen  the  vast  and  wonderful  malachite  vase  that 
now  stands  in  the  state  apartments,  and  is  said  to  be 
the  largest  in  the  world.  The  queen  herself  remarked 
on  the  turn  of  Fortune's  wheel  among  the  nations  that 
enabled  her  to  dance  with  Napoleon  IIL  in  the  Waterloo 
Chamber. 

At  a  later  date  the  queen  wrote  that  "  Windsor  is  delightful 
in  December"  ;  a  sad  saying  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
greatest  grief  of  her  life  came  upon  her  on  December  14, 
1861,  at  Windsor,  and  she  told  the  King  of  the  Belgians 
"  My  life  as  a  happy  one  is  ended." 

The  Prince  Consort's  funeral  took  place  at  Windsor  in 
January,  1862,  and  his  coffin  was  placed  in  the  royal  vault 
of  St.  George's  Chapel  for  a  year  until  the  mausoleum  at 
Frogmore  should  be  ready. 

King  Edward  VIL  was  christened  in  St.  George's 
Chapel,  and  was  there  married  to  the  Princess  Alexandra  of 
Denmark  on  March  11,  1863,  when  the  scene  at  Windsor 
once  more  became  animated  and  brilliant,  though  the 
queen  was  only  present  in  her  "closet"  in  St.  George's 
Chapel.  Many  of  Queen  Victoria's  children  were  married  at 
Windsor,  and  there  lie  buried  her  youngest  son,  the  Duke  of 
Albany,  and  two  of  her  grandchildren,  the  much-lamented 
Duke  of  Clarence  and  one  of  his  brothers,  who  died  in 
infancy. 

After  the  Prince  Consort's  death  the  queen  lived  in  great 
retirement.  She  was  often  at  Windsor,  and  to  the  end  of 
her  life  never  failed  to  be  there  for  the  anniversary  of  her 


WINDSOR    CASTLE  167 

husband's  death  in  December.^  She  left  the  castle  for  the 
last  time  in  December,  igoo,  and  only  her  mortal  remains 
were  brought  back  to  be  laid  by  his  side  at  Frogmore  in  the 
following  February. 

The  details,  splendid  and  touching  as  they  were,  of  the  late 
queen's  funeral  are  known  to  all  the  world.'^  At  Windsor 
there  was  for  a  few  moments  a  slight  difficulty  at  the  railway 
station,  when  the  artillery  horses  which  were  to  have  drawn 
the  gun  carriage  on  which  the  coffin  was  laid  became 
restive.  The  sailors  who  formed  the  guard  of  honour  had 
the  further  honour  of  themselves  drawing  the  carriage  to 
the  Chapel  of  St.  George,  where  the  first  part  of  the  burial 
service  was  solemnised  in  the  presence  of  a  congregation 
that  included  every  one  of  note  in  the  Empire  and 
representatives  from  every  civilised  country  in  the  world. 
The  next  day  the  coffin  was  removed  to  Frogmore,  and 
there  laid  by  the  side  of  the  Prince  Consort  in  the  space  that 
had  been  prepared  for  it  many  years  before.  The  Victorian 
era  was  over. 

King  Edward  VII.  made  Windsor  the  centre  of  his  most 
splendid  and  stately  Court.  No  structural  alterations  were 
made  in  the  castle,  but  the  internal  decorations  were  entirely 
renovated,  and  considerable  alterations  made  in  the  private 
apartments.  The  installation  of  electric  light  all  over  the 
building  is  a  change  of  far-reaching  importance.  The  rooms 
used  by  the  Prince  Consort  were  once  more  opened,  and  were 
among  those  inhabited  by  the  king  and  queen.  They  had 
been  closed  for  forty  years. 

The    stables    and    gardens    have     also     been    improved, 

*  It  was  also  the  anniversary  of  the  Princess  Alice's  death ;  she  died 
December  14,  1878. 

*  There  is  a  good  account  in  Justin  McCarthy's  Victorian  Era. 


i68      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

though  the  institution  of  motor  cars  has  had  the  effect  of 
sHghtly  reducing  the  stud.  Horses  are,  however,  used  on 
all  State  occasions.  From  time  to  time  Windsor  is  the 
scene  of  great  ceremonial  and  studied  magnificence,  of 
which  two  late  instances  may  be  mentioned — the  visit  of  the 
German  Emperor  and  Empress  in  1907,  and  that  of  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Sweden  in  igo8.  Thus  are  the  splendid 
traditions  of  the  past  maintained  at  Windsor.^ 

^  Since  this  was  written  the  funeral  of  his  late  majesty  king  Edward  VII. 
has  also  taken  place  at  Windsor,  in  the  midst  of  the  sincere  grief  and 
mourning  of  his  loyal  subjects. 


^(^miffton  Court  ^aface* 


THE  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem 
acquired  the  "  Manor  of  Hampton  Court  "  in 
1237/  and  had  a  small  preceptory  on  the  site  of 
the  present  palace.  The  only  remaining  relic 
of  the  order  now  at  Hampton  Court  is  the  bell  that  still 
rings  for  service  in  the  chapel,  and  bears  the  following 
inscription  : — 

+   STELLA  +   MARIA  +   MARIS  +   SUCCURRE  +   PIISMA  + 

NOBIS  + 

(Mary,  most  holy,  Star  of  the  Sea,  come  to  our  assistance). 

From  the  date  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's  purchase  of  the  lease 
of  the  manor  in  January,  1514-15,  to  the  reign  of  George  HI., 
the  history  of  Hampton  Court  Palace  is  not  only  intimately 
connected  with  the  private  lives  of  kings  and  statesmen,  but 
there  were  few  questions  of  political  importance  that  were 
not  discussed  by  the  Privy  Council  within  its  walls,  and 
innumerable  letters  and  documents  that  have  made  history 
were  dated  from  Hampton  Court. 

Wolsey  is  said  to  have  been  influenced  in  his  choice  of  the 
site  for  his  new  house  not  only  by  the  proximity  of  London, 

*  In  Domesday  Book  the  manor  belonged  to  Earl  Algar  and  was 
granted  by  the  Conqueror  to  Walter  de  St.  Valery.  In  1218-19  it  was 
held  by  Henry  of  St.  Albans,  who  sold  it  to  the  Prior  and  Brethren  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem  in  1237. 


I70      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


and  the  convenience  of  the  river  as  a  "  swift  and  silent 
highway,"  but  by  the  exceptional  healthiness  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood. 

Henry  VIII.  and  Katherine  of  Aragon  paid  their  first 
recorded  visit  to  Hampton  Court  in  March,  15 14,  and  in 
June  Wolsey  took  possession  of  the  property  and  imme- 
diately began  his  extensive  works  on  what  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  site  of  the  old  manor-house  or  camera  of  the 
Brethren.  In  May,  1516,  the  building  was  so  far  advanced 
that  the  cardinal  was  able  to  entertain  the  king  and  queen 
there  at  dinner,  but  he  did  not  stay  for  any  considerable 
period  before  15 17,  and  it  was  not  till  after  the  return  from 
the  "  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold "  that  he  seems  to  have 
considered  the  house  practically  complete  and  ready  for  the 
splendid  entertainments  that  afterwards  made  his  "  Court  " 
famous.^ 

It  has  been  said  that  Wolsey  was  the  greatest  political 
genius  that  England  has  ever  produced,  and  that  "  he  must 
be  estimated  rather  by  what  he  chose  to  do  than  by  what  he 
did."^  The  field  of  action  he  deliberately  chose  was  foreign 
policy,  and  all  his  schemes  and  his  magnificence,  including 
the  almost  regal  state  in  which  he  lived  at  Hampton  Court 
and  elsewhere,  must  be  understood  as  a  part,  and  not  a  small 
part,  of  his  political  design.  The  letters  of  the  ambassadors 
from  foreign  Courts  show  the  important  share  that  the 
cardinal's  splendour  had  in  influencing  their  policy.  It  is 
necessary  to  remember  the  vast  interests  he  had  at  stake 
to  appreciate  at  its  full  value  the  picture  of  the   cardinal, 

*  Wolsey  was  probably  his  own  architect :  the  names  of  men  who  drew 
plans  for  him  and  of  his  master  builders  and  clerks  of  the  works  can  be 
found  in  the  Chapter  House  accounts  at  the  Public  Record  Office,  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  owed  his  designs  to  any  one  but  himself. 

^  Creighton    Life  of  Wolsey,  2. 


< 


o 


y.    « 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  171 

walking  in  his  "galleries,  both  large  and  long,"^  meditating 
on  affairs  of  State,  giving  unwilling  audience  to  impatient 
petitioners  during  his  moments  of  leisure  in  the  garden,  or 
presiding  over  the  princely  fetes  he  organised  in  honour  of 
the  king,  or  his  guests,  or  the  foreign  ambassadors. 

Wolsey's  influence  with  the  king  during  the  early  part  of 
his  reign  was  almost  unlimited  ;  Henry  seems  to  have  treated 
the  cardinal  with  great  confidence  and  unusual  familiarity, 
walking  with  him  in  the  gardens  at  Hampton  Court  arm  in 
arm,  and  even  with  his  arm  round  Wolsey's  shoulder.^ 

Cavendish  says  that  when  the  king  repaired  to  the 
cardinal's  house  "  for  his  recreation,  divers  times  in  the 
year,  there  wanted  no  preparation  or  goodly  furniture  with 
viands  of  the  finest  sort  that  could  be  gotten  for  money  or 
friendship,"  and  tells  an  amusing  story  of  the  king's 
coming  *'  suddenly  thither  in  a  masque  with  a  dozen 
masquers  all  in  garments  like  shepherds  (sic)  made  of  fine 
cloth  of  gold  and  fine  satin  .  .  .  with  vizors  of  good  propor- 
tion and  physiognomy."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  they  startled 
the  cardinal  and  his  guests  with  "  the  noise  of  guns — they 
sitting  quiet  at  a  solemn  banquet "  ;  that  Wolsey  entertained 
them  as  strangers,  and  to  the  great  joy  of  king  and  Court 
mistook  which  was  the  king,  and  went  up  to  one  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Court,  hat  in  hand.^ 

It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  into  the  course  of  Wolsey's 
diplomacy  during  the  following  years,  though  Hampton 
Court  was  the  scene  of  many  of  his  negotiations.  He 
worked  always  for  the  peace  of  Europe,  and  an  important 

*  "  My  galleries  were  fayer,  both  large  and  long,  to  walk  in  them  when 
that  it  lyked  me  best."     Cavendish  :  Metrical  Life  of  Wolsey. 
^  Law :  Hist.  Hampton  Court  Palace,  i.,  43. 
^  Cavendish  :  Lt/c;  of  IVolsey,  51  et  seq. 


172      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

treaty  was  signed  at  Hampton  Court  in  1526  by  Wolsey  on 
behalf  of  Henry  VHI.  and  the  French  ambassador  on  behalf 
of  Francis  I.  The  next  year  saw  the  arrival  of  French 
commissioners  to  arrange  a  marriage  between  Francis  I.  and 
Henry's  daughter  Mary,  then  only  ten  years  old.  The 
ambassadors  were  taken  to  the  palace,  where  the  king  and 
queen  were  staying,  and  had  an  audience  of  the  king  **  in  the 
hall."^  In  the  evening  they  were  admitted  to  the  "  queen's 
chamber  "  and  talked  with  Henry  on  indifferent  matters,  he 
showing  himself,  as  the  French  secretary  says,  "  very 
learned."  The  treaty  was  signed  at  Greenwich  in  April, 
1527,  but  on  account  of  the  negotiations  having  been  carried 
on  there  it  is  known  as  the  "  Treaty  of  Hampton  Court." 

The  most  wonderful  as  well  as  the  last  of  Wolsey's  regal 
entertainments  at  Hampton  Court  took  place  in  the  autumn 
of  1527,  when  a  special  embassy  came  from  France  to  ratify 
the  agreement  finally  and  to  invest  the  king  with  the  Order 
of  St.  Michael.  Cavendish  gives  a  lengthy  and  detailed 
account  of  the  splendid  reception  that  was  prepared  for  the 
ambassadors,  and  describes  the  rooms  hung  with  arras,  the 
extraordinary  quantity  of  plate,  the  great  candlesticks,  the 
lavish  profusion  of  the  feast  that  was  served  for  them. 
"  The  service  was  brought  up  in  such  order  and  abundance, 
both  costly  and  full  of  subtleties,  with  such  a  pleasant  noise 
of  divers  instruments  of  music,  that  the  Frenchmen,  as  it 
seemed,  were  rapt  into  Paradise  .  .  .  and  could  not 
commend  him  too  much."  ^ 

Wolsey  at  first  seems  to  have  encouraged  Henry's  desire 
for  a  divorce  in  order  to  further  his  own  foreign  policy,  but 

^  Wolsey's  "  Great  Hall "  no  longer  exists.     The  present  one  was  built 
by  Henry  VIII. 

'^  Cavendish  :  Life  of  Wolsey  (ed.  Singer). 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  173 

from  the  moment  that  Anne  Boleyn  became  his  political 
rival  the  fate  of  the  "  greatest  political  genius  that  England 
has  ever  produced"  was  sealed;  though  for  a  time,  even 
after  he  had  made  his  gift  of  Hampton  Court  to  the  king,  he 
continued  to  transact  business  and  to  receive  the  foreign 
ambassadors  there.  A  truce  with  the  Netherlands  was 
concluded  in  1528,  signed  at  Hampton  Court  and  solemnly 
confirmed  in  the  chapel  there  on  June  17.  This  truce,  which 
must  not  be  confused  with  the  peace  already  mentioned,  is 
also  known  as  "  the  Truce  of  Hampton  Court." 

The  last  time  that  Wolsey  was  at  his  "  great  house"  was 
in  July,  1529.  A  bill  of  indictment  was  preferred  against 
him  in  November,  and  he  retired  to  Esher,  where  he  had 
built  himself  a  small  house,  part  of  which  still  remains. 
Hampton  Court  is  not  concerned  in  the  final  details  of  his 
disgrace — 

That  once  trod  the  ways  of  glory, 

And  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shoals  of  honour. 

Cavendish  also  gives  an  account  of  his  interview  with  the 
king  in  the  garden  at  Hampton  Court  when  he  was 
summoned  to  speak  of  the  cardinal's  death,  and  was  told  by 
Henry  that  he  would  "  liever  than  twenty  thousand  pounds 
that  the  cardinal  had  lived."  Nevertheless  he  inquired 
anxiously  for  the  small  remains  of  his  favourite's  great 
fortune. 

There  is  a  tradition  maintained  to  tliis  day  in  the  palace 
that  a  certain  spider,  known  as  the  **  Cardinal  Spider,"  is 
peculiar  to  Wolsey's  part  of  the  palace,  and  is  connected  in 
some  strange  fashion  with  his  tragic  fate.^     It  is  also  said 

*  Respect  for  truth  claims  mention  that  the  species  is  found  in  other 
parts  of  the  Thames  valley. 


174      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

that  the  cardinal  himself  haunts  the  scene  of  his  former 
greatness,  and  a  story  is  told  of  a  housekeeper  of  the  palace 
early  in  the  last  century  who  declared  that  she  seldom 
went  through  the  cloisters  "without  brushing  against  his 
Eminence."  Another  story  is  told  of  a  room  near  the 
beautiful  little  apartment  known  as  the  "Cardinal's  Oratory," 
where  he  was  said  to  open  and  shut  the  door.^ 

Henry  did  not  actually  take  possession  of  the  palace  until 
Wolsey  had  been  finally  banished.  Up  to  that  time  the 
"  king's  manor"  of  Hampton  Court  was  apparently  a  figure 
of  speech,  but  one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  erase  the  cardinal's 
badges  and  to  mark  the  whole  building  with  his  own  arms 
and  monograms.  Katherine  of  Aragon  accompanied  Henry 
when  he  first  went  to  Hampton  Court  in  February,  1530, 
and  they  were  said  to  treat  each  other  in  public  with  the 
**  greatest  possible  attention  " ;  but  already  in  the  Chapter 
House  accounts  the  "Lady  Anne's  lodgynges"  were 
frequently  mentioned,  though  it  is  not  possible  to  identify 
her  rooms. 

On  July  14,  1531,  Henry  left  Katherine  at  Windsor  and 
rode  to  Hampton  Court ;  after  that  day  he  never  saw  her 
again,  and  in  September,  1532,  the  crown  jewels  were  sent 
from  Greenwich  to  Hampton  Court  for  Anne  Boleyn.  The 
accounts  of  Henry's  sojourns  at  the  palace  read  like  the 
shifting  scenes  of  one  long  pageant  of  joy  and  revelry,  yet 
behind  them  were  the  stern  politics  that  he  never  neglected ; 
the  meetings  of  the  Council  took  place  constantly,  and  all 
foreign  despatches  were  daily  submitted  to  the  king. 

Giustinian,  the  Venetian  ambassador,  gives  an  account  of 


*  This   room,    with    its    beautiful    cinque- cento    ceiling    and    linen 
panelling,  is  now  open  to  the  public. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  175 

a  tournament  held  in  the  "tilt  yard"^  that  Henry  had  laid 
out,  and  says  that  when  the  king  appeared  a  grand  proces- 
sion was  formed,  headed  by  the  marshal  of  the  jousts  on 
horseback,  dressed  in  cloth  of  gold,  surrounded  by  thirty 
footmen  in  liveries  of  blue  and  yellow.  Then  followed  the 
drummers  and  trumpeters,  all  dressed  in  white  damask  ;  next 
forty  knights  and  lords  in  pairs,  all  in  superb  attire,  and 
many  in  cloth  of  gold;  then  "some  twenty  young  knights, 
on  very  fine  horses,  all  dressed  in  white,  with  doublets  of 
silver  and  white  velvet,  and  chains  of  unusual  size,  and  their 
horses  barded  with  silver  chainwork,  and  a  number  of 
pendent  bells.  Next  came  their  pages,  on  horseback,  their 
trappings,  half  of  gold  embroidery,  half  of  purple  velvet, 
embroidered  with  stars ;  and  then  the  jousters,  armed,  with 
their  squires  and  footmen.  Last  of  all  came  his  Majesty, 
armed  cap-a-pie^  with  a  surcoat  of  silver  bawdakin,  surrounded 
by  some  thirty  gentlemen  on  foot,  dressed  in  velvet  and 
white  satin,  and  in  this  order  they  went  twice  round  the 
lists."  2 

Anne  Bolejm  was  crowned  in  June,  1533,  and  in  July  she 
came  to  Hampton  Court,  where  a  series  of  magnificent 
"  revellynges  "  took  place  in  her  honour.  There  were  great 
rejoicings  at  the  birth  of  Elizabeth,  but  Henry  very  soon 
made  manifest  how  all-important  he  considered  the  birth  of 
a  son.  It  becomes  sufficiently  apparent  what  the  motive 
was  for  the  vast  trouble  and  expense  lavished  on  obtaining 
his  divorce.  Only  three  years  after  her  coronation,  in  May, 
1536,  Anne  was  executed,  and  the  king  obtained  a  dispensa- 
tion from  Cranmer  for  his  marriage  with  Jane  Seymour  on 

*  The  old  walls  of  the  tilt  yard  and  one  of  the  towers  for  spectators  still 
remain.     The  tilt  yard  is  now  a  nursery  garden. 
Giustinian  :  Despatches,  ii.,  loi. 


176      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

the  same  day.  The  next  morning  she  secretly  joined  the 
king  at  Hampton  Court,  and  there,  in  the  presence  of  a  few 
courtiers,  they  were  formally  betrothed.  Ten  days  later  they 
were  married  in  the  "  Quene's  Closet  at  York  Place."  ^ 

In  September,  1537,  Jane  Seymour  returned  to  Hampton 
Court  to  await  the  birth  of  the  anxiously  expected  heir  to  the 
throne,  and  on  Friday,  October  12,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  long-desired  prince  was  born.  His  christening  took 
place  on  the  Monday  following  in  the  chapel,  with  much  pomp 
and  ceremony ;  the  rooms  through  which  the  procession  passed 
and  the  chapel  itself  were  richly  decorated;  in  the  middle  of 
the  choir  the  font  "  of  solid  silver  gilt  was  set,  and  over  it  a 
rich  canopy,"  the  trumpeters  meanwhile  "  standing  in  the 
outer  court  within  the  gate,  there  blowing  and  the  minstrels 
playing,  which  was  a  melodious  thing  to  hear." 

The  excitement  proved  to  be  too  great  for  the  queen,  and 
twelve  days  after  the  birth  of  her  son,  on  October  24,  she  died, 
and  Henry  had  the  grace  to  write  to  Francis  L,  "  of  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  death  of  her  who  brought  me  this  happiness."  She 
lay  in  state  at  Hampton  Court  until  Monday,  November  12, 
when  her  body  was  removed,  with  great  funereal  state,  to 
Windsor,  where  she  was  buried  in  St.  George's  Chapel. 

Jane  Seymour's  arms  still  remain,  coupled  with  those  of 
the  king,  at  the  entrance  of  the  chapel.^ 

Henry  seems  for  a  time  to  have  left  the  palace  as  a  sort  ot 
nursery  for  his  son,  and  the  ambassadors  were  occasionally 
invited  there  to  see  the  prince.  In  November,  1539,  the 
king  was  at  Hampton  Court  while  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
Anne  of  Cleves,  but  he  never  brought  her  there.    The  decree 

1  Letters  and  Papers  of  Henry  VIII.,  x.,  no.  1000. 

2  The  arms  of  Wolsey  originally  hung  there,  and  the  figures  of  angels 
that  were  his  supporters  still  remain. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  177 

of  divorce  was  pronounced  in  July,  1540,  and  shortly  after- 
wards Henry  arrived  with  Katherine  Howard.  They  had 
been  married  privately  at  Oatlands  on  July  28.  On  August  8 
she  appeared  openly  as  queen  and  sat  next  to  the  king  in  the 
royal  closet  in  the  chapel. 

Little  more  than  a  year  afterwards  Henry  received  his 
first  intimation  of  Katherine's  guilt,  made  to  him  by  means 
of  a  paper  put  into  his  hand  by  Cranmer,  while  he  was 
hearing  Mass  in  the  chapel  at  Hampton  Court,  and  he 
showed  himself  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  rage.  A  day  or 
two  afterwards  he  left  secretly  to  confer  with  his  council  in 
London.  Meanwhile  the  palace  was  closely  guarded,  and 
Katherine  was  formally  made  aware  of  the  charges  against 
her  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  a  deputation 
from  the  council.  To  them  she  denied  all,  but  confessed 
to  the  archbishop,  hoping  thus  to  obtain  the  royal  pardon. 
She  was  sent  to  Syon  House  under  an  escort,  and  thence  to 
the  Tower,  where  she  was  executed  on  February  13,  1542. 

The  best-known  ghost  story  of  the  palace  is  connected 
with  Katherine  Howard  ;  the  "  haunted  gallery  "  is  so  called 
because  her  ghost  is  said  to  run  shrieking  through  the  room. 
She  attempted  to  make  her  way  into  Henry's  presence  as  he 
was  hearing  Mass  in  the  chapel,  but  was  seized  by  the  king's 
guard  and  carried  back  to  her  own  chamber,  while  the  king 
listened  to  her  screams  unmoved.  This  strange  scene  her 
unquiet  spirit  is  said  to  enact  constantly,  and  her  screams 
are  supposed  to  have  been  heard  by  ladies  who  inhabited 
neighbouring  apartments.^ 

Nothing  seems  to  have  changed  Henry's  affection  for  the 

'  The  great  objection  to  this  story  is  that  Katherine  did  not  know  of 
the  charges  that  had  been  brought  against  her  until  after  Henry  had  left 
the  palace. 

R.P.  N 


178      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


place ;  he  chose  to  be  married  at  Hampton  Court  to  his  last 
bride,  Katherine  Parr,  the  widow  of  Lord  Latimer,  "  in  an 
upper  oratory  called  the  Quyne's  Privy  Chapel,"  on  July  12, 
1543.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  Stephen  Gardiner, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  in  the  presence  of  about  twenty 
witnesses,  including  the  Princesses  Mary  and  Elizabeth. 
Christmas  of  that  year  was  celebrated  with  much  festivity  at 
Hampton  Court,  and  the  new  queen's  brother  and  uncle  were 
created  peers. 

Henry  eventually  left  Katherine  Parr  and  his  three 
children  at  Hampton  Court,  when  he  went  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  English  army  in  France  in  the  summer  of 
1543.  Some  of  the  queen's  letters  are  still  extant,  informing 
him  of  the  health  of  the  prince  and  other  affairs.  Henry 
returned  in  October,  and  they  continued  at  Hampton  Court 
for  some  time.  The  well-known  picture,  attributed  to 
Holbein,  of  Henry  VHL  and  his  family  sitting  in  the 
cloisters  at  Hampton  Court,  which  is  now  in  the  state  apart- 
ments, was  probably  painted  at  this  period,  about  1546.^ 

Henry  left  Hampton  Court  for  the  last  time  before  the 
end  of  1546,  and  died  at  Westminster  on  January  28,  1547. 

Edward  VI.  had  been  brought  up,  to  a  certain  extent,  at 
the  palace;  a  regular  household  had  been  appointed  for  him 
there  in  1538,  and  the  rooms  allotted  to  him  were  on  the 
second  floor  on  the  north  side  of  the  chapel  court,  facing  the 
gardens  to  the  east.  His  nurse  was  Sibell  Penn,  daughter 
of  William  Hampden  and  wife  of  David  Penn,  who  con- 
tinued to  live  in  the  palace  after  Edward  had  outgrown  her 
ministrations,  and  after  his  death.  She  died  in  1562  and 
was  buried  at  Hampton  Church,  where  her  monument  with  a 

*  It  is  not  by  Holbein,  though  it  is  of  his  school. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  179 

quaintly  rhyming  epitaph  can  be  seen.  Her  ghost  is  said  to 
haunt  the  south  wing  of  the  east  front,  and  is  among  the  best 
authenticated  of  those  that  are  supposed  to  appear  at 
Hampton  Court. 

Edward's  hrst  return  to  the  palace  as  king  was  in  June, 
1547.  In  his  "journal  "  he  gives  an  account  of  his  walking 
in  "  the  gallery  "  with  his  uncle  the  Lord  Admiral  Seymour 
of  Sudeley,  who  tried  to  urge  the  young  king  to  assert  him- 
self, "  that  within  three  or  four  years  he  should  be  ruler  of 
his  own  things."  Meanwhile  the  splendour  and  arrogance 
of  his  other  uncle,  the  Lord  Protector  Somerset,  increased, 
so  that  the  Council  became  alarmed  and  met  secretly  in 
London  to  devise  measures  to  reduce  his  power.  Somerset 
became  suspicious  of  their  intentions,  and  armed  all  his  own 
men  and  the  king's  attendants  at  Hampton  Court.  He  also 
issued  a  proclamation,  signed  by  the  king,  bidding  all  his 
"  loving  subjects  "  to  repair  to  Hampton  Court  in  haste  "  in 
most  defensible  array,  with  harness  and  weapons  "  to  defend 
the  king's  person  and  that  of  his  "  entirely  beloved  uncle  the 
Lord  Protector."  Edward  says  in  his  journal  that  "  peple 
came  abundantly  to  the  house,"  and  it  is  said  that  the  moat 
was  filled,  the  gates  fortified,  and  all  preparations  made  for 
a  siege.  But  the  people  only  came  from  curiosity.  Somerset 
was  not  popular,  and  though  he  took  the  young  king  into  the 
outer  court  ^  and  there  harangued  the  crowd,  he  saw  that  his 
force  was  not  sufficient,  and  that  popular  feeling  was  against 
him,  for  late  that  night  he  hurried  off  with  Edward  and  "  al 
the  peple "  to  Windsor,  which  he  probably  considered  a 
stronger  place  of  defence.  Somerset's  power  was,  however, 
broken,  and  he  was  shortly  afterwards  sent  to  the  Tower, 

^  Now  the  "  barrack  yard."  He  probably  stood  on  the  bridge  built  by 
Henry  VIII.  across  the  moat.     This  bridge  has  lately  been  excavated. 

N    2 


i8o      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

though  he  returned  and  was  again  with  Edward,  in  a  modi- 
fied position,  until  1551.  On  October  11  he  was  present  at 
the  gorgeous  ceremonies  in  the  great  hall  at  Hampton 
Court  when,  among  other  promotions  in  the  peerage,  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  his  greatest  enemy,  was  created  Duke  of 
Northumberland.  On  October  14  Somerset  attended  a 
council  at  the  palace,  but  a  few  hours  after  the  meeting 
he  was  accused  of  treason  and  felony  and  removed  to  the 
Tower.  Six  weeks  later  he  was  found  guilty,  and  was  executed 
on  January  12,  1551-2. 

The  Dowager-Queen  of  Scotland  visited  Edward  at 
Hampton  Court  in  the  autumn  of  1551,  but  during  the 
remaining  three  years  of  his  life  he  was  little  at  the  palace. 

Mary  spent  her  honeymoon  with  Philip  of  Spain  at 
Hampton  Court,  where  they  arrived  on  August  23,  1554,  a 
few  days  after  their  state  entry  into  London.  The  Court 
was  in  mourning  at  the  time,  and  they  lived  in  a  very  retired 
manner  for  some  weeks.  It  was  perhaps  the  happiest  period 
of  Mary's  ill-starred  existence.  In  April,  1555,  she  returned 
to  await  the  birth  of  her  child,  and  all  preparations  were 
made,  the  nurseries  were  opened,  and  "  a  cradle  sumptuouslie 
and  gorgeouslie  trimmed  "  was  ready.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  Elizabeth  arrived  at  the  palace  and  the  often  mentioned 
reconciliation  between  the  sisters  took  place. 

To  the  end  of  her  life  Mary  refused  to  abandon  her  hope 
of  a  child,  but  the  later  accounts  of  the  ambassadors  who 
visited  her  at  Hampton  Court  give  a  terrible  picture  of  her 
mental  and  physical  condition.  Philip  and  Mary  paid  their 
last  visit  to  the  palace  in  June,  1557,  when  they  came  down 
"  to  hunt  in  the  park,"  but  it  was  only  a  flying  visit,  as  the 
household  was  left  at  Whitehall. 

Though  Hampton  Court  was  not  the  scene  of  any  great 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  i8i 

historic  events  during  the  reign  of  Ehzabeth,  it  was  the 
background  for  many  festivities.  The  queen  inherited  to  the 
full  the  Tudor  love  of  splendid  ceremonial  and  elaborate 
pageantry.  She  arrived  at  the  palace  for  the  first  time  after 
her  accession  on  August  lo,  1559.  Already  the  question  of 
her  marriage  was  the  cause  of  great  anxiety  to  her  advisers, 
and  at  this  time  the  Earl  of  Arran,  eldest  son  of  the  Duke 
of  Chatelherault,^  was  the  suitor  they  favoured.  He  came 
secretly  to  England  and  concealed  himself  in  Cecil's  house 
in  the  Strand.  In  August  he  came  to  Hampton  Court,  and 
was  brought  by  Cecil  into  the  "  Privy  Gardens,"  where  a  sort 
of  clandestine  interview  took  place  between  him  and  the 
queen,  who,  though  the  romantic  touch  of  such  a  meeting 
pleased  her,  was  not  attracted  by  Arran  personally,  and  he 
returned  to  Scotland.  The  secrecy  was  unavailing,  for  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  from  whom  they  wished  to  conceal  the 
fact  of  Arran's  presence  in  England,  appears  to  have  been 
quite  aware  of  it. 

It  is  necessary  to  mention  that  Hampton  Court  was  the 
scene  of  some  of  the  "  scandal  about  Queen  Elizabeth."  Many 
years  after  her  death  a  man  appeared  in  Madrid  who  declared 
that  he  was  the  son  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
and  that  he  had  been  born  in  the  palace,  but  had  been  brought 
up  as  the  reputed  son  of  Robert  Sotheron,  once  a  servant  of 
Mrs.  Ashley,  one  of  the  ladies  about  the  Court,  who  on  his 
death-bed  had  revealed  to  the  boy  his  real  parentage.  This 
story  has  been  dismissed  as  impossible.  "  Arthur  Dudley  " 
was  probably  only  a  carefully  coached  spy.  There  are, 
nevertheless,  various  stories  of  the  familiar  terms  on  which 
the  queen  and  Leicester  were.     On  one  occasion  Elizabeth 

'  He  was  presumptive  heir  to  the  throne  of  Scotland. 


i82      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

was  sitting  in  the  dedans  of  the  tennis  court  at  the  palace 
watching  a  game  between  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  Leicester, 
and  it  was  said  that  "  My  Lord  Robert  being  verie  hotte  and 
swetinge  tooke  the  quene's  napken  oute  of  her  hande  and 
wyped  his  face,  which  the  duke  seinge  saide  that  he  was  to 
sawcie,  and  swore  yt  he  wolde  laye  his  racket  upon  his  face. 
Here  upon  rose  a  great  troble  and  the  quene  offendid  sore 
with  the  duke."  It  can  hardly  be  considered  that  he  was 
more  courtly  than  Dudley.  Nevertheless  Elizabeth  knew 
when  to  make  her  favourite  understand  "  that  there  was  only 
one  mistress  in  England  and  no  master." 

The  autumn  of  1592  was  a  period  of  great  political  anxiety 
in  England,  and  in  October  Elizabeth  was  ill  at  Hampton 
Court,  reputed  to  be  dying  of  the  smallpox.  On  the  night 
of  the  15th  the  Council  was  summoned  in  haste  to  decide 
on  measures  to  be  taken  in  case  of  her  death,  and  on  recover- 
ing from  a  prolonged  state  of  unconsciousness  she  found 
them  gathered  round  her  bed  waiting  to  hear  what  she  might 
say  of  the  succession.  She  declared  that  "  though  she  loved 
Robert  dearly,  nothing  unseemly  had  ever  passed  between 
them,"  and  begged  that  he  might  be  made  Protector  of  the 
realm.^  This  scene  may  have  taken  place  in  the  room  on 
the  south  side  of  the  palace  which  still  has  Elizabeth's  crown 
and  cipher  above  the  window.  Her  illness  was  soon  over, 
and  by  November  11  she  was  well  enough  to  be  moved  to 
Somerset  House. 

In  1568  an  important  council  was  held  at  Hampton  Court 
on  October  30  to  decide  on  the  further  action  of  England 
with  regard  to  the  future  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  then  a 
prisoner  at  Carlisle.     A  conference  was  held  in  London,  and 

1  Cal.  State  Paper,  Spanish,  1558-59;  Froude,  Hist.  Engl.,  vii.,  429; 
Martin  Hume,  Courtships  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  68. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  183 

Elizabeth  received  Mary's  commissioners  at  the  palace  and 
assured  them  that  the  proceedings  were  to  be  in  no  way 
judicial.  On  December  8  the  celebrated  Casket  Letters  were 
produced  by  Murray  and  laid  before  the  English  commis- 
sioners, and  another  great  council  of  peers  was  summoned  to 
Hampton  Court  to  discuss  the  proceedings  of  the  conference 
and  to  see  these  proofs  ;  but  their  verdict  was  not  unanimous, 
and  negotiations  between  the  commissioners  of  Elizabeth 
and  Mary  were  carried  on  for  a  considerable  period  after- 
wards. 

The  queen  continued  to  spend  some  time  at  Hampton 
Court  every  year,  and  her  visits  were  generally  marked  by  a 
series  of  the  "  revels  "  in  which  she  delighted.  Masques  and 
plays  were  presented  before  the  Court  almost  every  evening 
in  the  great  hall.  "  The  Accounts  of  the  Revels  at  Court  "  ^ 
contain  many  details  of  such  performances,  and  show  that 
the  stage  scenery  of  those  days  was  not  so  primitive  as  is 
generally  thought.  The  most  interesting  of  these  plays  is 
"  The  Historie  of  Error  showen  at  Hampton  Court  on  New 
Year's  Day  at  night,  enacted  by  the  children  of  Powles'." 
It  has  been  conjectured  that  this  play  was  the  foundation  of 
Shakespeare's  Comedy  of  Errors. 

The  queen's  hospitality  was  practically  boundless.  The 
sum  total  of  the  charges  for  the  upkeep  of  her  household 
amounted  to  £80,000,  in  one  year,  but  this  vast  sum  for  the 
period  was  exclusive  of  the  expenses  for  Christmas  and  other 
festivities. 

Elizabeth  paid  her  last  visit  to  Hampton  Court  in  1599, 
determined  to  be  as  young  and  energetic  as  ever.  The 
Scottish  ambassador  reported  that  when  she  left  Hampton 

^  Published  by  the  Shakesperian  Society.     Ed.  P.  Cunningham. 


i84      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Court  she  wished  to  go  on  horseback  as  usual,  though  she 
was  "  scarce  able  to  sit  upright,"  and  "  the  day  being  passing 
foul,  my  Lord  Hunsdon  said  '  it  was  not  meet  for  one  of 
Her  Majesty's  years  to  ride  in  such  a  storm.'  She  answered 
in  great  anger,  '  My  years  !  Maids,  to  your  horses  quickly,' 
and  so  rode  all  the  way."  Three  and  a  half  years  later  she 
died  at  Richmond. 

James  L  apparently  determined  to  keep  up  Elizabeth's 
habit  of  spending  Christmas  at  Hampton  Court  with  suitable 
festivity.  In  December,  1603,  the  famous  masque  called 
"  The  Vision  of  the  Twelve  Goddesses  "  was  specially  written 
for  the  occasion  by  Samuel  Daniel.  The  exchequer  accounts 
for  the  queen's  royal  household  and  wardrobe  give  some 
details  of  the  preparations  in  the  great  hall  and  "great 
watching  chamber  "  for  this  masque.  In  a  copy  of  the  first 
edition,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  the  names  of  the  twelve 
.ladies  who  took  part  in  it  are  inserted  in  a  contemporary 
handwriting.^  The  representation  took  place  in  the  great 
hall  on  Sunday,  January  8,  1604,  at  nine  or  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  In  a  letter  of  Sir  Dudley  Carleton's  he  speaks 
of  the  banquet  afterwards  being  **  despatched  with  the 
customary  confusion."  Shakespeare  belonged  to  the  "  King's 
Company  of  Comedians,"  and  it  is  extremely  probable  that 
he  took  part  in  some  of  the  numerous  plays  presented  before 
the  king  and  queen  in  the  great  hall  at  different  times.  Mr. 
Law  has  pointed  out  that  the  arrangement  of  the  hall  is 
little  altered  from  what  it  was  then,  and  that  it  remains  an 
example  of  a  Shakesperian  theatre. 

James  had  more  important  affairs  to  deal  with  than  the 

^  Law,  History  of  Hampton  Court  Palace,  ii.,  9,  22.  Vide  also  Law, 
A  Royal  Masque  at  Hampton  Court,  in  which  there  is  a  reprint  of  The 
Vision  of  the  Twelve  Goddesses. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  185 

entertainment  of  his  Court.  He  professed  himself  to  be 
anxious  to  make  a  satisfactory  compromise  in  the  matter  of 
estabhshing  a  recognised  form  of  religion  in  the  kingdom, 
and  summoned  a  conference  at  Hampton  Court,  when  the 
bishops  and  deans  of  the  Church  of  England  and  some  of 
the  great  divines  of  the  Puritan  party  were  appointed  to 
discuss  the  questions  at  issue.  This  was  the  celebrated 
"  Hampton  Court  Conference"  which  took  place  in  January, 
1603-4,  in  "  the  king's  privy  chamber,"  probably  one  of  the 
large  rooms  built  by  Henry  VHI.  and  afterwards  destroyed 
by  Wren.  James's  theological  learning  received  the  appro- 
bation and  support  of  the  bishops,  though  the  Puritan  party 
can  hardly  have  appreciated  the  forcible  style  of  his  language. 
The  king  was  delighted  to  display  his  own  erudition  and 
wrote  to  a  friend  in  Scotland,  "  I  have  peppered  thaime 
soundlie." 

The  best-remembered  consequence  of  this  conference  was 
the  decision  to  make  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  which 
gave  to  the  nation  the  "  Authorised  Version." 

There  are  two  contemporary  accounts  of  Hampton  Court 
in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  one  written  by  Prince  Otto,  the  son 
of  the  Landgrave  Maurice  of  Hesse,  who  came  there  in  161 1, 
and  gave  a  long  description  of  the  tapestries,  pictures,  and 
other  curiosities  he  saw  there.  Among  the  rooms  he 
mentions  one  called  "  Paradise — within  which  almost  all  the 
tapestry  is  stitched  with  pearls  and  mixed  with  precious 
stones."  The  other  account  is  by  Ernest,  Duke  of  Saxe 
Weimar,  who  visited  England  in  1613.  Hewasalso  astonished 
by  the  "  Paradise"  room,  and  added  the  detail  that  "  all  the 
apartments  and  galleries  were  laid   with    rush    matting."  ^ 

*  Rooms  were  generally  "  strewed"  with  rushes  and  herbs  to  a  much 
later  date. 


i86      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

He  further  described  a  "  great  hunt "  he  had  with  the  king. 
Both  James  and  his  queen,  Anne  of  Denmark,  were  devoted 
to  the  sport,  and  there  is  an  interesting  portrait  of  the  queen, 
wearing  a  green  hunting  costume,  in  the  palace.^ 

In  1618  the  queen  became  seriously  ill,  and  removed  from 
Oatlands  to  Hampton  Court  for  the  sake  of  her  health.  She 
was  evidently  consumptive,  and  by  the  end  of  February,  i6ig, 
grew  rapidly  worse.  On  March  i  "  all  the  lords  and 
ladies  .  .  .  went  to  Hampton  Court,  but  very  few  were 
admitted."  The  physicians,  the  Prince  (Charles)  of  Wales, 
and  the  Bishop  of  London  were  called  to  her  hastily  in  the 
early  morning  of  the  next  day,  and  at  four  o'clock  she  died. 
There  is  an  ancient  tradition  that  she  expired  exactly  as  the 
clock  struck  the  hour,  and  that  it  stopped,  and  has  continued 
to  stop  ever  since  when  any  old  inhabitant  of  the  palace 
dies.  Many  corroborating  coincidences  have  been  noted,  but 
the  clock  is  old,  and  no  record  has  been  kept  of  the  dates 
when  it  has  stopped  without  any  death  having  taken  place  to 
account  for  it. 

The  body  of  Anne  of  Denmark  was  removed  by  water  in  a 
royal  barge  to  Somerset  House;  she  was  afterwards  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey. 

James  was  at  Hampton  Court  in  September,  1624,  when 
Charles,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
returned  from  their  romantic  expedition  to  Spain,  for  Charles 
to  make  his  own  proposals  of  marriage  to  the  Infanta,  or 
rather  perhaps  to  test  the  good  faith  of  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment, and  the  negotiations  were  broken  off  very  soon  after 
his  return.  There  is  no  record  that  James  was  at  the  palace 
again  before  his  death  on  March  27,  1625. 

^  By  Vansomer. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  187 

The  early  history  of  Charles  I.  at  Hampton  Court  is  con- 
cerned almost  entirely  with  his  many  difficulties  regarding 
the  household  of  Henrietta  Maria.^  The  record  is  one  of 
constant  quarrels,  misunderstandings,  and  reconciliations 
with  her  and  with  the  diplomatic  agents  of  France. 
Eventually  the  difficulties  became  so  complicated  that 
Richelieu  sent  the  Marquis  de  Bassompierre  to  try  and 
arrange  a  compromise.  On  Sunday,  October  11,  1625,  he 
arrived  at  Hampton  Court  in  one  of  the  king's  coaches ;  a 
splendid  repast  had  been  prepared  for  him,  but  neither  he 
nor  his  suite  would  touch  it.  Bassompierre  acted  with  tact 
and  discretion,  but  ineffectually,  and  on  July  31,  1626,  after 
a  final  scene  with  the  queen,  her  French  attendants  were 
sent  away  from  Whitehall  and  returned  to  France.  Charles 
continued  to  visit  Hampton  Court  at  intervals  and  added  the 
splendid  gallery  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua  to  his  collection  of 
pictures  there.  Two  at  least  of  Shakespeare's  plays  were  acted 
before  him  and  the  queen,  The  Moor  of  Venice  on  December 
8,  1636,  and  Hamlet  on  January  24,  1637. 

In  February,  1642,  Charles  made  his  untoward  attempt  to 
arrest  the  "  five  members  "  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and, 
alarmed  by  the  menaces  of  Parliament  and  people,  the  king 
and  queen  with  their  family  fled  from  London  to  Hampton 
Court,  where  their  arrival  was  so  unexpected  that  they  and 
their  three  elder  children  had  to  share  one  room.  They  only 
remained  a  few  days  and  moved  to  Windsor  for  "  greater 
security."  Charles  was  at  the  palace  again  only  for 
one  night  before  he  was  brought  back  as  a  prisoner  on 
August  24,  1647.  Much  damage  had  already  been  done  by 
the  soldiers  of  the  Parliament,  who  had  destroyed  the  stained 

*  Henrietta  Maria  was  only  fifteen  years  old  at  the  time. 


i88      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

glass  in  the  chapel,  pulled  down  the  altar  rails,  and  removed 
the  pictures. 

Charles  remained  in  the  palace  as  a  prisoner  for  about  two 
months,  receiving  honourable  and  dignified  treatment.  The 
headquarters  of  the  army  were  at  Putney,  and  Cromwell,  with 
other  superior  officers,  came  over  frequently  to  confer  with 
the  king.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  historical  scenes 
of  which  Hampton  Court  has  been  the  background  is  that  of 
Charles  and  Cromwell  walking  together,  in  friendly  converse, 
through  the  galleries  or  in  the  gardens  of  the  palace.  It  is 
generally  thought  that  Charles's  fatal  love  of  intrigue  at  this 
time  destroyed  the  last  chance  of  the  compromise  at  which 
Cromwell  sincerely  wished  to  arrive.  By  degrees  the 
Parliamentary  officers  ceased  to  visit  the  king,  and  Charles 
was  warned  that  his  position  had  become  dangerous.  He 
withdrew  his  promise  not  to  escape,  and  in  the  early  darkness 
of  the  autumn  evening  on  November  ii,  1647,  he  left  the 
palace  with  Colonel  Legge,  passing  through  the  room  called 
**  Paradise "  by  a  private  passage  to  the  riverside,  where 
he  was  met  by  his  two  loyal  followers,  Ashburnham  and 
Berkeley,  with  horses,  and  so  made  good  his  escape.  It  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  decided  whether  they  crossed  the 
river  at  Thames  Ditton  and  went  thence  through  West 
Molesey  to  Oatlands,  or  whether  they  rode  to  Hampton  and 
over  Walton  Bridge. 

Colonel  Whalley,  who  had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  king, 
discovered  his  escape  at  about  eight  o'clock,  sent  out  soldiers 
to  search  the  neighbourhood,  and  informed  the  generals  at 
their  headquarters  at  Putney.  Cromwell  rode  over  to  Hamp- 
ton Court  at  once,  and  wrote  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  from  the  palace  at  twelve  o'clock  the  same 
night.     His  letter,  and  three  which  the  king  had  left  on  his 


1^ 
v. 

1^ 


k 
■^ 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  189 

table,  addressed  to  Colonel  Whalley,  the  Parliamentary  Com- 
missioners, and  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  were  all  laid 
before  the  House  the  next  day.  This  was  the  last  departure 
of  Charles  I.  from  the  palace.^ 

Immediately  after  the  execution  of  the  king  a  Bill  was 
introduced  into  Parliament  to  provide  for  the  sale  of  all  the 
property  of  "  the  late  Charles  Stuart."  It  was  passed  on 
July  4,  1649,  and  a  full  and  ample  inventory  was  made  of 
all  the  furniture,  plate,  jewels,  pictures,  tapestries,  etc.,  in 
Hampton  Court  Palace.  This  inventory  is  still  preserved  in 
the  British  Museum  (Harl.  MSS.,  No.  4898,  fol.  238).  A 
certain  number  of  the  tapestries,  etc.,  were  fortunately  pre- 
served "  for  the  use  of  the  Lord  Protector,"  but  much  was  sold, 
and  the  sale  lasted  for  nearly  three  years.  The  Council  of 
State  eventually  decided  that  the  greater  number  of  the 
king's  palaces  were  to  be  kept  "  for  the  public  use  of  the 
Commonwealth,"  but  in  1653  the  manor  and  surrounding 
property  were  actually  sold,  and  had  to  be  bought  back  at 
some  loss  when  Cromwell  was  proclaimed  Lord  Protector  in 
December,  1653. 

Cromwell  was  constantly  at  Hampton  Court  afterwards, 
and  one  of  the  early  records  of  his  time  is  of  a  Royalist  plot 
to  assassinate  him  on  his  way  from  London,  frustrated  by 
his  receiving  a  timely  warning  and  returning  by  another 
road.  In  1657  it  was  proposed  that  he  should  be  blown  up 
by  a  sort  of  "infernal  machine"  at  Hammersmith,  on  his 
way  to  Hampton    Court.     The    Duke   of  York,  writing   to 

'  There  is  an  interesting  story  given  by  Mr.  Law  {History  of  Hampton 
Court  Palace,  ii.,  147-149)  of  a  book  which  was  dropped  by  Charles  in  the 
mud  while  he  was  escaping  from  the  palace.  The  volume,  with  mud- 
stains  on  the  leaves,  is  now  in  the  British  Museum  (No.  loo  of  the 
Thomason  Collection,  known  as  "the  King's  Tracts.") 


igo      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Charles  II.,  says  calmly  that  the  plan  was  "  better  laid  and 
resolved  on  than  any  he  had  known  of  the  kind."  In  the 
same  year  another  bold  Royalist  was  "taken  in  the  gallery  at 
Hampton  Court  with  two  loaded  pistols  and  a  dagger." 
Such  discoveries  had  their  effect  on  Cromwell,  and  he  was 
always  "  changing  and  shifting  his  lodging,  to  which  he 
passed  through  several  locks,  when  he  went  between  White- 
hall and  Hampton  Court  he  passed  by  private  and  back  ways, 
but  never  the  same  way  backward  and  forward,  he  was  always 
in  a  hurry,  his  guards  riding  at  full  gallop,  and  the  coach 
always  filled  with  armed  persons,  he  himself  being  furnished 
with  private  weapons."  ^ 

He  seems  to  have  felt  himself  more  secure  at  Hampton 
Court  than  in  London,  and  was  constantly  there  with  his 
children  and  grandchildren.  He  transacted  affairs  of  State 
there,  and  the  members  of  the  Council  came  down  to  him  on 
such  occasions  as  they  had  come  to  the  late  king.  Mrs. 
Cromwell,  the  "  Lady  Protectress,"  as  she  was  sometimes 
called,  endeavoured  to  hold  a  sort  of  Court  in  the  palace, 
somewhat  awkwardly ;  and  occasionally  when  public  enter- 
tainments had  to  be  given  some  of  the  old  state  was  revived, 
such  as  the  Protector's  halberdiers  attending  in  the  banquet- 
ing room,  and  the  old  Court  ceremonials  being  observed  in 
bringing  up  the  dishes  to  the  table.  At  other  times  Crom- 
well was  fond  of  rough  horseplay  and  used  to  amuse  himself 
and  his  officers  with  "  antick  tricks,  as  throwing  of  cushions 
and  putting  live  coals  in  their  pockets  and  boots  ...  he  had 
twenty  other  tricks  in  his  head."  ^  He  had  other  tastes  as 
well,  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  his  secretary  was 
John  Milton,  and  that  he  had  two  good  organs  put  up  in 

*  Heath :  Flagellum,  193. 
«  Ibid. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  191 

the  great  hall,  on  which  no  doubt  his  secretary  often 
played.^ 

Cromwell's  third  daughter,  Mary,  was  married  to  Lord 
Falconbridge  in  the  chapel  at  Hampton  Court  on  Novem- 
ber 17,  1657.  In  the  following  year  he  had  the  grief  of  losing 
his  favourite  child,  Elizabeth  Claypole,  who  died  in  the 
palace,  after  a  short  illness,  on  August  6,  1658.  It  is  said 
that  on  her  death-bed  she  implored  her  father  to  make 
atonement  for  his  disloyalty  to  the  king.  A  week  after  her 
death  Cromwell  became  seriously  ill,  and  George  Fox,  who 
came  to  Hampton  Court  to  present  a  petition  for  the 
Quakers,  said  that  "  he  looked  like  a  dead  man."  He  was 
removed  to  Whitehall,  and  there  died  on  September  2,  the 
eve  of  his  "  fortunate  day,"  the  anniversary  of  the  battles  of 
Worcester  and  Dunbar. 

The  Cromwells  evidently  desired  to  keep  Hampton  Court 
as  their  private  property,^  but  a  resolution  was  once  more 
passed  in  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  sale  of  all  the  royal 
manors.  This  was  prevented,  and  Hampton  Court  was 
saved  for  Charles  H.,  who  after  the  Restoration  made  a  great 
many  alterations  in  the  place,  especially  in  the  parks  and 
gardens,  and  spent  much  time  there. 

The  marriage  of  the  king  and  Katherine  of  Braganza  took 
place  at  Portsmouth  on  May  21,  1662,  and  they  arrived  at 
Hampton  Court  a  week  later.  Their  progress  was  stately 
and  dignified.^  They  probably  alighted  at  the  foot  of  the 
great  hall  stairs,  under  Anne  Boleyn's  gateway,  and  in  the 
hall  itself  were  received  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon, 

'  The  organs  were  removed  long  ago. 
"^  Or  at  all  events  the  furniture. 

^  See  picture  from  a  contemporary  print  in  Law,  History  of  Hampton 
Court  Palace,  ii. 


192      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  Lord  Treasurer,  and  other  Councillors  of  State.  In  the 
Presence  Chamber  they  were  met  by  the  foreign  ministers, 
the  peers,  and  the  lords  and  ladies  of  the  Court,  v/ho  came 
to  do  homage  to  the  new  queen.  The  Duchess  of  York  also 
came  by  barge  from  London,  and  was  received  at  the  "  privy 
garden  gate  "  by  the  king  himself. 

Like  Henrietta  Maria  before  her,  and  for  the  same  reason, 
Katherine  suffered  on  account  of  her  retinue,  who  were  quite 
unable  to  adapt  themselves  to  their  gay  surroundings,  and 
were  described  by  de  Grammont  as  "  six  frights  .  .  .  and  a 
duenna,  another  monster." 

At  first  the  king  and  queen  amused  themselves  with 
entertainments  out  of  doors,  balls,  plays,  and  music  indoors. 
John  Evelyn  gives  an  account  of  their  going  on  the  river  in  a 
gondola,  presented  by  the  State  of  Venice,  and  also  mentions 
the  queen's  "  Portugal  music,  consisting  of  fifes,  harps,  and 
very  ill  voices."  As  it  happened  in  the  palace  it  is  necessary 
to  mention  the  insult  Charles  was  weak  enough  to  offer  the 
queen,  by  unexpectedly  bringing  into  her  presence  the 
notorious  Lady  Castlemaine  before  the  whole  Court.  The 
scene  ended  in  confusion,  for  the  queen  fainted,  and  after- 
wards maintained  her  resolute  refusal  to  receive  Lady 
Castlemaine.  It  is  to  Clarendon's  lasting  dishonour  that  he 
used  his  influence  with  Katherine  to  make  her  yield  to  the 
king's  wishes,  and  was  then  the  first  to  blame  her  when, 
unable  to  bear  the  pressure  put  upon  her,  she  consented  to 
appoint  Barbara  Palmer  as  one  of  the  ladies  of  her  bed- 
chamber. 

On  July  28,  1662,  Henrietta  Maria  returned,  to  pay  a  visit 
to  her  son,  never  having  seen  the  palace  since  her  fatal  flight 
from  it  in  1642.  She  alighted  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  leading 
to  the  great  hall,  where  she  was  received  by  the  queen,  and 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  193 

they  sat  together  in  the  presence  chamber,  under  the  "  Cloth 
of  State."  The  king  and  the  Duke  of  York  had  to  act  as 
interpreters,  for  Katherine  could  not  speak  French,  nor 
Henrietta  Spanish  or  Portuguese. 

In  1665  the  Court  was  at  the  palace,  in  quarantine  from  the 
plague,  the  deaths  in  London  amounting  to  over  2,000  a  week. 
Pepys  gives  an  entertaining  account  of  his  being  at  Hampton 
Court  on  July  23,  "  where  I  followed  the  king  to  chapel  and 
there  heard  a  good  sermon."  He  was  afterwards  distressed 
because  no  one  invited  him  to  dinner,  but  was  eventually 
entertained  by  Mr.  Marriott,  the  housekeeper,  at  whose  house 
he  found  "  good  dinner  and  good  company,  amongst  others 
Mr.  Lilly  the  painter."^ 

Towards  the  end  of  his  reign  Charles  was  not  often  at 
Hampton  Court,  though  he  sometimes  came  down  to  play 
tennis  or  for  stag-hunting.  James  H.  never  lived  there  at  all, 
and  after  his  accession  only  held  one  council  in  the  palace, 
on  May  29,  1687. 

The  reign  of  William  and  Mary  opens  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  Hampton  Court  Palace,  as  under  their  auspices 
more  than  half  the  original  Tudor  building  was  pulled  down.^ 
Wren's  great  new  palace  was  erected,  and  the  whole  place 
assumed  very  much  the  appearance  it  has  now.  The  quiet- 
ness of  the  situation,  the  distance  from  London,  and  perhaps 
the  fact  that  James  H.  had  never  lived  there  as  king  may 
have  formed  part  of  the  attraction  that  the  place  evidently 
had  for  both  king  and  queen,  though  William  at  once  decided 
that    the   old    building    was   inconvenient  and    ill-arranged. 

1  Lely's  famous  portraits  of  the  "  Beauties  of  the  Court  of  Charles  II." 
now  hang  in  the  "  King's  State  Bedroom." 

■^  The  part  built  by  Henry  VIII.  was  destroyed,  except  the  "great 
hall."     Wolsey's  courts  still  exist. 

R.P.  O 


194      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Almost  immediately  after  their  first  visit  Christopher  Wren 
was  appointed  architect  and  the  works  began.^  While  plans 
and  elevations  were  being  prepared  and  the  demolition  of  the 
older  part  had  already  been  started,  the  king  and  queen  still 
passed  a  great  deal  of  time  in  the  palace.  The  routine  of 
their  life  was  very  simple.  Queen  Mary  superintended  every- 
thing herself,  inspecting  the  building  and  the  gardens,  making 
fringe,  and  playing  "  Bassett."  The  king  hunted  in  the  parks, 
and  occupied  himself  during  the  first  summer  by  visiting  the 
camp  formed  on  Hounslow  Heath.  The  life  of  the  Court 
was  so  quiet  as  to  cause  great  dissatisfaction  among  the 
people,  and  Lord  Hahfax  took  upon  himself  to  inform 
William  that  "  his  inaccessibleness  and  living  so  at  Hampton 
Court  altogether,  and  at  so  active  a  time,  ruined  all  business," 
and  remonstrated  with  him  on  the  loss  of  time  caused  to  the 
ministers,  who  took  five  hours  to  come  and  go.  The  king 
only  answered  peevishly,  "Do  you  wish  me  dead?"  The 
"  Bill  of  Rights  "  was  being  debated,  and  no  doubt  William's 
presence  in  London  was  highly  desirable. 

The  vexed  question  of  the  succession  was  for  the  moment 
set  at  rest  by  the  birth  at  Hampton  Court  of  the  Princess 
Anne's  son,  William  Henry,  afterwards  known  as  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester.  He  was  baptized  in  the  chapel  on  the  evening 
of  Saturday,  July  28,  just  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the 
last  christening  there  of  an  heir  to  the  throne.  The  usual 
ceremonial  was  observed,  William's  adherents  were  knighted, 
and  the  ambassadors  were  received  in  state. 

The  history  of  the  palace  during  this  reign  is  chiefly  the 
history  of  the  new  building,  which  absorbed  all  atten- 
tion when  William  and   Mary  were  there.     Quarrels  arose 

*  Wren's  alternative  plans  and  designs  for  the  palace  are  still  extant, 
some  in  the  Soane  Museum  and  some  at  AH  Souls  College,  Oxford. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  195 

occasionally  between  Wren,  the  "  surveyor,"  and  Talman,  the 
"comptroller,"  and  the  queen  wrote  constantly  to  the  king 
during  his  absences  in  Ireland  and  Holland,  complaining  of 
the  delays  caused  by  the  "  want  of  money  and  Portland 
stone." 

Mary  installed  herself  in  the  building  known  as  the  "  Water 
Gallery "  while  the  palace  remained  uninhabitable.  It  is 
recorded  that  she  made  of  her  dwelling  "  the  pleasantest 
little  thing  within  doors  that  could  possibly  be  made,  with 
all  the  little  neat  curious  things  that  suited  her  conveniences." 
Inspired,  no  doubt,  by  Lely's  paintings  of  the  beauties  of  the 
Court  of  Charles  II.,  she  began  to  make  a  gallery  of  the 
portraits  of  her  own  ladies,  painted  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 
When  the  "  Water  Gallery  "  building  was  destroyed  after 
Queen  Mary's  death,  because  it  spoilt  the  view  from  the 
windows  of  the  new  palace,  these  pictures  were  removed  to 
a  room  known  henceforth  as  the  "  Beauty  Room,"  ^  but  they 
now  hang  in  the  "  Presence  Chamber  "  with  other  examples  of 
Kneller's  work. 

The  new  apartments  were  not  finished  till  1694,  shortly 
before  Mary's  death,  and  she  never  occupied  them.  The 
work  languished  afterwards,  until  in  January,  1698,  the  palace 
of  Whitehall  was  burnt  down,  and  William  once  more  turned 
his  attention  to  the  completion  of  Hampton  Court. '^  He 
often  stayed  in  the  palace  afterwards,  and  displeased  his 
ministers  by  saying  "  that  he  could  not  be  troubled  with 
business  at  Hampton  Court,"  but  his  amusements  did  not 
include  the  balls,  banquets  and  masques  beloved  by  the 
Tudors  and  the  Stuarts.     He  superintended  the   building, 

*  This  room  is  now  known  as  the  "  Oak  Room  "  and  is  used  by  the 
residents  in  the  palace  for  entertainments. 

2  He  never  seems  to  have  contemplated  rebuilding  Whitehall. 

O    2 


ige      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

and  his  only  other  relaxation  seems  to  have  been  hunting  or 
coursing  in  the  parks. 

Later  in  his  reign  he  was  often  there  for  his  health,  under- 
going strange  courses  of  treatment,  that  included  such 
unpleasant  prescriptions  as  "  crabs'  eyes  and  hogs'  lice." 

James  II.  died  in  September,  1701,  while  William  was 
in  Holland,  but  he  returned  to  Hampton  Court,  to  find 
himself  more  popular  than  he  had  ever  been,  because 
Louis  XIV.  had  acknowledged  the  son  of  James  as  King  of 
England.  William  was  overwhelmed,  even  the  day  after  his 
return,  by  deputations  from  "  cities,  counties,  and  universi- 
ties," assuring  him  of  the  loyalty  of  his  subjects.  It  is 
possible  to  imagine  that  he  received  them  in  the  new 
"  Presence  Chamber,"  which  remains  practically  the  same 
as  it  was  then,  with  its  canopy  of  crimson  damask,  its 
splendid  silver  chandeHer,  and  the  great  picture  of  William 
landing  at  Margate,  after  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  by  Kneller, 
hanging  on  the  wall.  Macaulay  wrote  that  "  the  whole  king- 
dom was  looking  anxiously  to  Hampton  Court.  .  .  .  Both 
Whigs  and  Tories  waited  with  intense  anxiety  for  the  decision 
of  one  momentous  and  pressing  question — Would  there  be  a 
dissolution?  "  The  proclamation  dissolving  Parliament  and 
calling  together  a  new  one  was  issued  from  Hampton  Court 
on  December  30. 

The  accident  that  caused  William's  death  took  place  at 
Hampton  Court  on  February  21,  1701-2.  The  king  was 
riding  a  favourite  horse  called  Sorrel,  who  stumbled  on  a 
molehill,  and  threw  his  rider,  who  received  injuries  little 
regarded  at  the  time,  though  they  were  eventually  the  cause 
of  his  death  on  Sunday,  March  8,  1701-2.^ 

•  He  died  at  Kensington  Palace.  The  exact  spot  where  the  accident 
happened  is  not  known,  even  by  tradition. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  197 

Hampton  Court  was  left  to  Queen  Anne,  with  accumulated 
arrears  of  debts  against  the  Crown  amounting  to  thousands 
of  pounds.  Her  association  with  the  palace  is  accurately 
summed  up  in  Pope's  words : 

Here  thou  Great  Anna  !  whom  three  realms  obey 
Does  sometimes  Council  take — and  sometimes  tea. 

In  the  early  part  of  her  reign  Anne  used  often  to  preside 
over  meetings  of  the  Privy  Council  in  the  Cartoon  Gallery-, 
otherwise  known  as  "  the  Great  Council  Chamber "  or 
"  King's  Gallery,"  where  the  seven  great  cartoons  of 
Raphael  hung  in  the  room  built  for  their  reception,^  which 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  palace,  both  as  to  its  proportions 
and  the  carved  cedar  panelling  which  decorates  it.  Swift 
has  left  a  description  of  the  Court  held  by  Anne  in  the  palace. 
On  one  occasion  he  described  his  visit  as  follows  :  "  We  made 
our  bows,  and  stood,  about  twenty  of  us,  round  the  room, 
while  the  queen  looked  at  us  with  her  fan  in  her  mouth,  and 
once  in  a  minute  said  about  three  words  to  some  that  were 
nearest  to  her.  I  dined  at  Her  Majesty's  Board  of  Green 
Cloth.  It  is  much  the  best  table  in  England,  and  costs  the 
queen  3^1,000  a  month,  while  she  is  at  Windsor  or  Hampton 
Court,  and  is  the  only  mark  of  magnificence  or  royal  hospitality 
that  I  can  see  in  the  royal  household." 

The  queen  had  drives,  or  "  chaise  rides,"  made  for  herself 
in  the  parks  at  this  time,  and  Swift  said  that  on  one  occasion 
she  hunted  the  stag  till  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
drove  in  her  chaise  no  less  than  forty  miles.  A  trivial  incident 
— when  Lord  Petre  cut  off  a  lock  of  Miss  Fermor's  hair — 


*  They  are  now  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  their  place  has 
been  taken  by  French  tapestries,  copies  of  the  cartoons  themselves,  of 
much  later  date. 


igS      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

which  took  place  at  Hampton  Court  will  always  be  remem- 
bered, as  it  led  to  the  composition  of  Pope's  famous  poem 
"  The  Rape  of  the  Lock." 

Anne  died  in  17 14,  and  George  L  arrived  at  the  palace 
about  nine  months  after  his  accession,  and  lived  there  in  great 
retirement  with  the  two  ladies  who  added  considerably  to  his 
unpopularity  with  his  subjects.^ 

In  1716  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  appointed  Regent  during 
his  father's  absence  in  Hanover,  and  was  allowed  to  live  at 
Hampton  Court,  in  the  suite  of  rooms  now  known  as  "  the 
Queen's  State  Rooms,"  on  the  east  side  of  the  palace.  The 
prince  and  princess  endeavoured  to  hold  a  Court  which  should 
contrast  with  the  dull  and  stiff  formality  which  was  the  king's 
idea  of  regal  dignity.  It  was  probably  Caroline  who  encouraged 
the  world  of  wit  and  learning  as  well  as  that  of  birth  and 
beauty  to  come  to  the  palace.  The  reminiscences  of  Walpole 
and  Swift,  the  poems  of  Pope  and  Gay,  which  commemorate 
this  epoch,  are  well  known.  Gaiety  reigned  at  this  young 
Court  as  it  never  seems  to  have  done  when  George  and 
Caroline  returned  as  king  and  queen  to  hold  the  last  of  the 
regal  Courts  destined  to  be  held  in  the  palace. 

Most  famous  among  the  wits  who  thus  made  brilHant 
this  epoch  was  Philip  Dormer,  fourth  Earl  of  Chesterfield, 
best  known  by  his  famous  Letters.  Carr,  Lord  Hervey,  his 
brother  John,  who  succeeded  to  the  title  and  was  afterwards 
celebrated  as  the  friend  of  Queen  Caroline  and  of  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  and  the  mother  of  the  Herveys,  Lady  Bristol, 
were  also  among  the  wits.  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  first  wife 
was  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  and  among  other  cele- 
brated or  notorious  women  must  be  mentioned  Mrs.  Clayton, 

'  Madame  Schulenberg,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Kendal,  and  Madame 
Kilmansegg,  afterwards  Countess  of  Darlington  and  Leinster. 


t^r 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  199 

afterwards  Viscountess  Lundon,  the  intimate  friend  of 
the  Princess  of  Wales,  Mrs.  Selvvyn,  mother  of  the  famous 
George  Augustus  Selwyn,  and  Mrs.  Howard,  better  known  as 
Lady  Suffolk:,  a  woman  of  some  abihty  and  beauty,  who 
encouraged  Pope  and  his  literary  friends,  and  gained  an 
ascendency  over  the  Prince  of  Wales  which  she  never 
entirely  lost  till  she  retired  from  the  Court  altogether  in 
1734.  There  were  also  the  beautiful  maids  of  honour,  Mary 
Lepell,  afterwards  Lady  Hervey,  whose  praises  were  sung  by 
all  her  contemporaries,  including  Pope  and  Gay,  Pulteney 
and  Chesterfield;  Mary  Bellenden,  of  whom  even  Horace 
Walpole  could  only  speak  to  commend  her  charms  ;  and  the 
**  giddy  and  unfortunate  "  Sophia  Howe,  then  in  the  zenith 
of  her  youth  and  gaiety.  Besides  these  Lord  Scarbrough, 
"amiable  and  melancholy,"  Lord  Bolingbroke,  Lord  Bathurst, 
Pope,  Gay,  Pulteney,  Arbuthnot,  and  latterly  Swift,  may  be 
mentioned  as  among  those  who  added  to  the  brilliancy  of  the 
Court. 

Social  life  at  the  palace  was  a  constant  round  of  amuse- 
ment ;  in  the  morning  it  was  the  custom  to  go  on  the  river 
in  gaily  decorated  barges,  rowed  by  oarsmen  in  royal  liveries. 
The  prince  and  princess  dined  in  public  and  were  accessible 
to  all  the  world.  In  the  afternoon  or  evening  the  four 
pavilions  that  stood  at  each  corner  of  the  bowling  green  were 
visited,  chocolate  was  served,  and  "  ombre  "  or  "  commerce  " 
played.  Sometimes  the  princess  had  a  party  to  play  cards 
or  dance  in  the  "  queen's  gallery." 

Meanwhile  business  was  not  neglected,  for  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  Lord  Mcthuen,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Finch,  Lord 
Townshend,  and  Count  Bothmar,  the  Hanoverian  minister 
of  George  L,  were  constantly  in  attendance. 

In  October,  1716,  the  Court  left  the  palace,  and  in  August 


200      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  next  year,  when  they  returned  with  the  king,  the  scene 
was  changed,  for  Pope  wrote  that  "  no  lone  house  in  Wales, 
with  a  mountain  and  a  rookery  is  more  contemplative  than 
this  Court." 

Not  long  afterwards  the  king  and  his  son  quarrelled  so 
violently  that  even  the  prince's  friends  were  not  received  by 
the  king. 

One  of  the  most  shameful  and  sordid  acts  of  the  inglorious 
reign  of  George  L  was  the  dismissal  from  his  post  as  Sur- 
veyor-General of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  who  had  served 
under  five  different  monarchs  with  conspicuous  success. 
The  pretext  was  stated  to  be  a  desire  for  economy ;  the  real 
reason  a  wish  to  please  the  Duchess  of  Kendal  and  Lady 
Darlington,  who  appointed  a  creature  of  their  own.  Wren 
behaved  with  admirable  fortitude  and  philosophy  and 
retired  to  his  house  on  the  Green.-^  His  successor's 
incapacity  and  dishonesty  soon  became  apparent,  and  he  was 
ignominiously  dismissed  from  his  post  after  holding  it  only 
for  a  year. 

There  is  little  more  to  record  of  the  palace  till  after  the 
accession  of  George  IL,  who  first  came  into  residence  as 
king  in  July,  1728,  and  during  the  next  ten  years  of  his 
reign  visited  regularly  Hampton  Court  for  some  months  every 
summer ;  but  the  brilliancy  of  early  days  had  vanished.  Lord 
Hervey  gives  an  account  of  the  dull  evenings  spent  in  the 
**  queen's  audience  chamber,"  when  the  king  walked  about 
and  talked  of  armies  or  genealogies  to  Lord  Lifford  and  his 
sister,  "  while  the  queen  knotted  and  yawned,  till  from 
yawning  she  came  to  nodding,  and  from  nodding  to  snoring." 

'  Many  houses  in  the  vicinity  claim  the  honour  of  having  been  Wren's 
house,  but  the  second  house  on  the  south  side  of  the  Green,  known  as 
"  Old  Court  House,"  is  undoubtedly  that  which  he  occupied. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  201 

The  queen  and  Lord  Hervey  had  interminable  conversations 
on  every  conceivable  subject,  but  when  the  king  was  present 
he  took  care  that  nothing  interesting  to  Carohne  should  be 
discussed.^ 

The  most  important  domestic  matter  for  a  long  time  was 
the  continued  state  of  ill-feeling  and  disagreement  between 
the  king  and  queen  and  their  eldest  son,  Frederick,  Prince  of 
Wales,  which  culminated  at  last  in  his  determination  to 
annoy  his  parents  by  preventing  his  mother  from  being 
present  at  the  birth  of  his  eldest  child.  This  he  did,  at 
imminent  risk  of  the  Princess  of  Wales's  life,  by  hurrying 
her  away  from  Hampton  Court  at  half-past  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  driving  her  to  London  at  full  gallop,  where 
they  arrived  at  ten  o'clock,  and  their  daughter  was  born 
only  an  hour  later.  The  queen  visited  her  daughter-in-law 
at  St.  James's  and  saw  the  grandchild  to  whom  she  could 
give  no  better  welcome  than  to  say  "  le  bon  Dieu  vous 
b6nisse  pauvre  petite  creature,  vous  voila  arrive  dans  un 
d^sagreable  monde  "  ;  but  the  king  absolutely  refused  to 
pardon  his  son. 

The  Court  left  Hampton  Court  practically  for  the  last  time 
on  October  28,  1737,^  and  the  queen  died  on  November  20. 
With  her  death  the  history  of  the  palace  as  a  royal  residence 
comes  to  an  end,  George  IL  never  actually  lived  there  again, 
though  he  occasionally  came  down  for  a  day  with  Lady 
Yarmouth  or  others  of  the  Court. 

"  They  went  in  coaches  and  six  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
with  heavy  horse-guards  kicking  up  the  dust  before  them, — 

*  She  was  fond  of  architecture,  gardening,  and  painting,  and  threw 
herself  with  zest  into  theological  questions. 

-  The  architect  Kent,  under  (2ueen  Caroline,  had  restored  much  of  the 
building  and  had  considerably  altered  the  gardens. 


202      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

dined,  walked  an  hour  in  the  garden  and  returned  in  the  same 
dusty  parade  ;  and  His  Majesty  fancied  himself  the  most  lively 
and  gallant  prince  in  Europe."  ^  Occasionally  he  stayed  for 
a  night  or  two,  and  on  one  such  occasion  he  boxed  the  ears 
of  the  young  prince,  his  grandson,  afterwards  George  III., 
who  is  said  to  have  been  so  much  offended  that  he  could 
never  afterwards  make  up  his  mind  to  live  in  the  palace 
where  he  had  suffered  such  an  indignity. 

From  that  time  no  king  of  England  has  occupied  the 
palace,  and  it  has  ceased  to  be  the  scene  of  historical 
events,  though  among  its  inhabitants  at  all  periods  may  be 
found  the  names  of  some  who  have  "  made  history."  Even 
before  the  accession  of  George  IIL  the  place  had  been  left  to 
the  mercy  of  the  housekeeper  and  deputy-housekeeper,  who 
made  a  show  of  it  and  exacted  what  fees  they  would  from 
visitors.  Horace  Walpole  tells  one  of  the  numerous  stories 
about  the  famous  and  beautiful  Miss  Gunnings,  in  1751. 
**  They  went  the  other  day  to  see  Hampton  Court  ;  as  they 
were  going  into  the  Beauty  Room,^  another  company  arrived, 
the  housekeeper  said,  *  This  way,  ladies,  here  are  the 
Beauties.'  The  Gunnings  flew  into  a  passion  and  asked  her 
what  she  meant ;  that  they  came  to  see  the  palace,  not  to  be 
shown  as  a  sight  themselves."  ^ 

From  October  25,  1760,*  the  history  of  Hampton  Court 
assumes  an  entirely  new  aspect,  and  becomes  interesting  only 
as  the  lives  of  private  individuals  to  whom  apartments  were 
allotted  by  grace  and  favour  of  the  Sovereign  happen  to  be 
interesting. 

*  Walpole  :  Reminiscences  of  the  Court  of  George  II. 

^  Now  the  "  Oak  Room,"  where  the  Kneller  pictures  used  to  hang. 
^  Horace  Walpole :  Letters,  ed.  Toynbee,  vol.  ii. 

*  The  date  of  the  accession  of  George  III. 


HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE  203 

The  state  apartments  were  gradually  dismantled  during 
the  long  reign  of  George  III.,  but  it  was  not  until  the  time 
of  Queen  Victoria  that  by  her  special  thought  and  care  for 
the  people  the  galleries  and  gardens  were  thrown  open  to 
the  public,  and  year  by  year  visitors  pour  into  the  palace  in 
ever-increasing  numbers. 

As  to  the  private  apartments,  it  has  latterly  become  the  rule 
to  present  them  always  "  in  recognition  of  distinguished 
services  rendered  to  Crown  and  country  by  the  husbands  or 
near  relatives  of  the  recipients."  It  follows  naturally  that 
society  in  Hampton  Court  Palace  has  never  been  without  its 
own  peculiar  charm  and  interest,  as  is  testified  by  the  list 
that  includes  such  well-known  names  as  those  of  Lady 
Mornington,  mother  of  the  great  Duke  of  Wellington  ;  Mrs. 
Thomas  Sheridan,  mother  of  the  famous  Sheridans  ;  Admiral 
of  the  Fleet  Sir  George  Seymour,  G.C.B,,  who  served  as  a 
midshipman  in  the  Victory,  and  his  brother  Sir  Horace 
Seymour,  K.C.H.,  who  was  one  of  the  heroes  of  Waterloo. 
Lady  MacGregor,  the  daughter  of  Nelson's  flag  captain 
Hardy,  and  Lady  Georgiana  Grey,  daughter  of  Lord  Grey, 
of  Reform  celebrity,  who  died  only  recently,  must  also  be 
mentioned,  as  well  as  Princess  Frederica  of  Hanover, 
daughter  of  the  blind  King  of  Hanover,  who  gave  up  her 
apartments  in  i8g8. 

Among  the  present  occupants  many  well-known  names 
appear,  such  as  those  of  the  famous  general,  Field-Marshal 
Lord  Wolseley,  K.G. ;  Lady  Napier  of  Magdala,  widow 
of  the  late  Field-Marshal  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala  ;  and  Mrs. 
Creighton,  widow  of  the  late  Bishop  of  London,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  modern  historians. 

His  late  Majesty  King  Edward  VII.  frequently  visited  the 
palace  after  his  accession,  and  took  a  keen  interest  in  the 


204      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

improvements  and  restorations  which  from  time  to  time 
were  effected  in  the  building  and  the  gardens. 

To  all  who  know  and  appreciate  these  ancient  monuments 
of  history,  and  value  them  for  the  sake  of  the  old  associations, 
the  human  interest  that  attaches  itself  to  all  old  dwelling- 
places,  Hampton  Court  Palace  must  be  always  among  the 
most  attractive  and  fascinating,  not  only  for  its  artistic 
beauty  and  the  charm  of  the  splendid  architecture  and  the 
brilliant  gardens,  but  for  the  long  story  of  lives  that  have 
been  lived  in  the  precincts,  of  events  connected  with  the 
place  that  are  part  of  the  national  life  and  honour. 

To  those  who  realise  the  close  interweaving  of  yesterday 
with  to-day  and  to-morrow,  every  corner  and  passage, 
every  brick  and  every  stone,  has  its  own  story  to  tell,  full  of 
living  interest  and  fraught  with  most  vital  consequences. 

"  Let  us  now  praise  famous  men  and  our  fathers  that 
begat  us." 


Orpi^epaff. 


OF  all  the  royal  palaces  in  London,  none  have 
such  a  strong  and  clear  historical  tradition  as  old 
Whitehall.  This  perhaps  is  the  more  remark- 
able in  that  its  history  was  short,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  some  of  the  most  dramatic  events  in  the  lives  of 
the  kings  of  England  were  crowded  into  the  one  hundred  and 
sixty  years  that  Whitehall  was  the  home  of  the  Court.  The 
name  at  once  recalls  the  gorgeous  courts  of  the  splendour- 
loving  Tudors  and  Stuarts,  with  the  processions,  tournaments, 
masques  and  revels  in  which  they  delighted.  Still  better 
is  it  known  as  the  scene  of  the  greatest  tragedy  of  the  Stuart 
kings — the  execution  of  Charles  I.  But,  though  its  history  is 
so  familiar,  the  palace  itself  has  vanished,  and  of  its  outward 
appearance,  the  present  generation  of  Englishmen  have 
hardly  a  tradition.  The  banqueting-house,  built  by  Inigo 
Jones  for  King  James  I.,  is  all  that  remains  standing,  and  it 
gives  a  most  misleading  suggestion  of  the  old  palace.  It  alone 
of  the  splendid  designs  prepared  by  the  architect  for  the 
rebuilding  of  the  whole  structure  was  carried  out,  and 
Whitehall  was  essentially  Tudor  in  its  architecture,  the 
work  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  and  Henry  VIII.  It  was  an 
irregular  and  rambling  collection  of  buildings,  reaching  from 
east  to  west  from  the  river  to  St.  James's   Park,  and  from 


2o6      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

north  to  south  from  Scotland  Yard  and  Wallingford  House  to 
Cannon  Row  and  Downing  Street.  Its  size,  indeed,  was  the 
most  remarkable  point  about  it,  covering  the  huge  area  of 
nearly  twenty-four  acres. 

In  the  days  of  Wolsey,  Whitehall,  or,  as  it  was  then  called, 
York  Place,  was  the  residence  of  the  Archbishops  of  York, 
and  the  old  building  was  little  suited  to  the  taste  of  the 
cardinal.  He  seems  to  have  completely  rebuilt  it,  with  such 
magnificence  that  it  surpassed  any  house  in  existence, 
whether  belonging  to  king  or  nobleman.  Nothing  remains 
of  his  work,  except  in  all  probability  the  basement  of  Crom- 
well House,  or  No.  3,  Whitehall  Yard,  but  Oxford  and 
Hampton  Court  still  furnish  an  adequate  idea  of  his  love  of 
building  and  taste  in  architecture.  York  Place,  even  when 
rebuilt,  was  much  smaller  than  the  later  palace,  which  must 
be  accounted  the  work  of  Henry  VIII.  He  seized  the  arch- 
bishop's palace  on  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  as  if  it  had  been  his 
minister's  own  property,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  enlarge  it 
and  convert  it  into  a  royal  palace.  York  Place  was  said,  in 
the  deed  of  gift  extorted  from  Wolsey,  to  contain  one  messuage, 
two  gardens,  and  three  acres  of  land,  but  the  king  quickly 
added  to  this,  and  bought  a  considerable  amount  of  land 
from  the  Abbot  of  Westminster,  part  of  which  was  turned 
into  the  gardens  and  park.  On  much  of  the  land,  however, 
he  built  and  added  to  Wolsey's  palace.  The  buildings  included 
two  galleries,  one  of  them  being  thrown  across  the  street ;  the 
famous  cockpit,  tennis  court,  bowling  alley,  and  tilt  yard  ; 
the  Holbein  gateway,  a  chapel,  and  a  hall  for  entertainments. 
But  little  building  was  carried  out  under  Edward  VI.  and 
Mary,  and  Elizabeth  only  added  a  banqueting-house  to  the 
palace,  for  the  reception  of  the  ambassadors  sent  by  Cathe- 
rine di'  Medici  in  1581.    Stowe  describes  this  building  as  the 


7. 

< 

=5 


WHITEHALL  207 


"old,  rotten,  sleight,  builded  Banqueting-house,"  ^  but  in 
Holinshed's  Chronicle  there  is  a  minute  description  of 
Queen  Elizabeth's  hall.  "This  yoere  (against  the  comming 
of  certeine  commissioners  out  of  France  into  England)  by  hir 
Maiesties  appointment,  on  the  six  and  twentith  daic  of 
March  in  the  morning  (being  Easter  daie)  a  banketting 
house  was  begun  at  Westminster,  on  the  south  west  side  of 
hir  maiesties  palace  of  White  hall,  made  in  maner  and 
forme  of  a  long  square,  three  hundred,  thirtie  and  two  foot 
in  measure  about ;  thirtie  principals  made  of  great  masts, 
being  fortie  foot  in  length  a  peece,  standing  upright ;  betweene 
euerie  one  of  these  masts  ten  foot  asunder  and  more.  The 
walles  of  this  house  were  closed  with  canuas,  and  painted  all 
the  outsides  of  the  same  most  artificiallie  with  a  worke  called 
rustike,  much  like  to  stone.  This  house  had  two  hundred 
ninetie  and  two  lights  of  glasse.  The  sides  within  the  same 
house  was  made  with  ten  heights  of  degrees  for  people  to 
stand  upon  :  and  in  the  top  of  this  house  was  wrought  most 
cunninglie  upon  canuas, works  of  iuie  and  hollie,  with  pendents 
made  of  wicker  rods,  and  garnished  with  baie,  rue,  and  all 
maner  of  strange  flowers  garnished  with  spangles  of  gold,  as 
also  beautified  with  hanging  toseans  made  of  hollie  and  iuie, 
with  all  maner  of  strange  fruits,  as  pomegranats,  orenges, 
pompions,  cucumbers,  grapes,  carrets,  with  such  other  like, 
spangled  with  gold,  and  most  richlie  hanged.  Betwixt  these 
works  of  bales  and  iuie,  were  great  spaces  of  canuas,  which 
was  most  cunninglie  painted,  the  clouds  with  starres,  the 
sunne  and  sunne  beames,  with  diuerse  other  cotes  of  sundrie 
sorts  belonging  to  the  queenes  maiestie,  most  richlie 
garnished  with  gold."^     In  other  respects  the  palace   was 

*  Stowe  :  Annals,  ed.  1615,  p.  892. 

2  Holinshed:  Chronicle,  ed.  1587,  iii.,  p.  1315. 


2o8      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

allowed  to  fall  into  disrepair,  and  James  I.  on  his  accession 
determined  to  rebuild  it.  He  employed  Inigo  Jones,  his 
surveyor  of  the  works,  to  prepare  plans,  and  three  sets  of 
designs  were  made,  all  slightly  differing  from  one  another. 
Whitehall,  if  these  designs  had  been  carried  out,  would 
indeed  have  been  a  magnificent  building,  but  for  one  reason 
or  another  no  king  was  ever  in  a  position  to  accomplish  such  a 
task.  The  banqueting-house,  however,  was  completed  in  the 
reign  of  James  L  In  1606  he  ordered  the  old  banqueting- 
house  to  be  pulled  down,  and  another  "  very  strong  and 
stately,  beeing  in  every  way  larger  than  the  first,"  was  begun 
the  next  year.  It  was  not  ready  for  the  following  Christmas 
festivities,  but  the  masques  of  the  succeeding  years  were  per- 
formed in  the  new  banqueting-house,  while  "  a  new  room 
built  to  dine  and  dance  in  "  was  in  use  at  the  time  of  the 
marriage  of  Princess  Elizabeth  with  the  Count  Palatine. 
The  new  banqueting-house,  however,  was  destroyed  in  1619 
by  a  disastrous  fire,  which  raged  "  from  end  to  end,  and  side 
to  side,  before  it  was  discerned  or  descryed,  by  any  persons 
or  passengers,  either  by  sent  or  smoke,  .  .  .  "  ^  In  the  same 
year  Inigo  Jones  began  to  build  his  famous  banqueting-house, 
which,  "  besides  being  the  sole  relic  of  a  Whitehall  that 
never  existed,  is  also  the  sole  relic  of  the  Whitehall  that  was." 
Charles  I.  continued  the  decoration  of  the  new  building, 
obtaining  the  services  of  Peter  Paul  Rubens,  when  he  came 
to  England  in  1630  as  ambassador  from  the  Governess  of 
the  Netherlands.  Charles  did  little  more  to  the  fabric  of 
the  palace,  and  under  the  Commonwealth  the  interior  was 
dismantled,  many  of  its  treasures  being  sold  to  cover  the 
vast  expenses  of  the  Civil  War,  but  no  harm,  excepting  the 

^  Stowe :  Annals,  ed.  1631,  p.  1031. 


WHITEHALL  209 


destruction  of  Charing  Cross,  was  done  to  the  buildings, 
which  indeed  were  used  as  Government  offices.  Charles  IL, 
after  the  Restoration,  like  his  grandfather,  planned  to 
rebuild  the  whole  palace  and  employed  Sir  Christopher 
Wren  to  prepare  designs.  Nothing,  however,  was  ever  put 
in  hand,  although  the  various  apartments  were  much  re- 
paired, and  Evelyn  records  that  the  lodgings  of  the  Duchess 
of  Portsmouth  at  the  end  of  the  gallery  were  burnt  down  after 
having  been  three  times  rebuilt  to  please  her  erratic  fancies. 
His  successor,  James  H.,  built  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  in 
Whitehall.  It  contained  four  statues,  the  work  of  the 
sculptor  Grinling  Gibbons,  and  of  them  Evelyn  says : 
"  Nothing  can  be  finer  than  the  magnificent  marble  work 
and  architecture  at  the  end,  where  are  four  statues  repre- 
senting St.  John,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  the  Church,  in 
white  marble,  the  work  of  Mr.  Gibbons,  with  all  the  pillars 
of  exquisite  art  and  greate  coste,  ..."  A  fire  broke  out  in 
Whitehall  in  i6gi  and  caused  very  serious  damage,  but  it 
also  led  to  a  new  interest  in  the  palace  on  the  part  of  the 
reigning  sovereigns.  Mary  was  much  attached  to  Whitehall, 
and  it  was  probably  through  her  influence  that  its  restora- 
tion was  begun.  A  newsletter  gives  the  following  description 
of  the  work  :  **  On  travaille  a  Witehall  a  une  terrasse  dans 
la  riviere  depuis  I'apartement  de  la  duchesse  de  Grafton  jus- 
ques  a  I'apartement  de  my  lord  Portland.  Vous  scavez  que 
dans  I'entredeux  sont  les  logemens  du  Roy  et  de  la  Reyne. 
Les  debris  de  I'incendie  arrivee  il  y  a  quelques  mois  serviront 
a  faire  le  fondement.  On  ne  rebatira  plus  la  galerie.  On 
joindra  ce  grand  espace  au  jardin  prive  qui  par  ce  moyen  ira 
jusqiles  a  la  riviere  et  joindra  a  la  terrasse.  Cela  sera  beau. 
On  racommode  I'apartement  de  my  lord  Portland  et  celuy  de 
my  lord  Monmouth  qui  donne  sur  le  jardin  privu.  On  fera 
R.P.  r 


2IO      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

des  apartemens  et  ailleurs  a  loisir  pour  les  seigneurs  qui  ont 
perdu  les  leurs.  La  Reyne  a  donne  a  my  lord  Devencher 
comme  grand  maitre  la  chapelle  du  Roy  Jaques,  ou  il  se 
logera  assez  commodement  pour  tenir  table,"  ^  The  terrace 
was  known  as  Queen  Mary's  terrace  and  was  a  great  im- 
provement in  the  water  front  of  Whitehall,  but  the  palace 
seemed  destined  to  destruction  by  fire.  Numerous  outbreaks 
are  recorded  in  its  history,  the  last  and  most  fatal  belonging 
to  the  year  i6g8.  It  began  unnoticed  one  afternoon  in 
January,  in  the  lodgings  of  Colonel  Stanley,  and  raged  all 
night  so  fiercely  that  efforts  to  overcome  it  proved  ineffectual. 
Various  letters  describing  the  fire  were  written  while  it  was 
actually  burning  itself  out.  "  Whilst  I  write  to  your  lordship, 
Whythall  is  in  flames  and  a  verie  dismal  sight ;  the  fire  broke 
out  about  3  in  the  afternoon,  and  hes  alreadie  consumed  all 
the  royal  lodgings  both  on  the  water  and  privie  garden,  so 
that  I  think  there  is  litle  of  it  left  but  the  banqueting  houss."^ 
"  Such  was  the  fury  and  violence  of  this  dreadful  and  dismal 
conflagration,  that  its  flames  reduced  to  ashes  all  that  stood 
in  its  way,  from  the  Privy-stairs  to  the  Banquetting-house, 
and  from  the  Privy-gardens  to  Scotland-yard  all  on  that  side, 
except  the  Earl  of  Portland's  house  and  the  Banquetting- 
house,  which  are  preserved,  though  much  damnified  and 
shattered  ;  the  fire  proceeded  close  to  the  gate  by  the  Duke 
of  Ormond's  lodgings,  before  it  could  be  extinguished."^ 
Another  account  describes  how  "  all  that  was  worth  standing 
at  Whitehall,  is  burnt  except  the  banqueting-house,  which 
with  difficulty  was  saved."  This  meant  the  complete 
destruction  of  the  royal  apartments,  the  council  chamber, 

*  Hist.  MSS.  Com.     Rep.  viii.,  App.  i.,  p.  563a. 
2  Ibid.,  xiv.,  App.  iii.,  p.  129-130. 
^  Harleian  Miscellany,  vi.,  p.  398. 


WHITEHALL  211 


the  guard  hall,  the  offices  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  of 
the  Treasury,  various  lodgings  of  different  Court  officials,  the 
long  gallery,  and  the  chapel  built  by  James  IL  These  con- 
temporary letters,  as  a  rule,  included  the  Chapel  Royal 
amongst  the  buildings  thus  destroyed,  but  this  seems  to  have 
been  a  mistake.  Probably,  however,  it  was  so  much  damaged 
that  it  was  unfit  for  use,  and  its  ruins  were  pulled  down  certainly 
before  1728,  if  not  sooner.  This  fire  brought  the  history  of 
Whitehall  Palace  to  a  close,  for  it  was  never  rebuilt. 
William  IIL  never  cared  for  it,  and  neither  he  nor  Queen 
Anne  attempted  to  rebuild  it,  while  the  Hanoverian  kings 
possibly  were  far  from  anxious  to  revive  the  associations  of 
a  building  so  closely  connected  with  the  House  of  Stuart. 

Although  it  is  difficult  to  form  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
appearance  of  old  Whitehall,  so  different  from  the  Govern- 
ment offices  and  Georgian  houses  that  have  been  built  on  its 
site,  its  place  in  history  has  been  celebrated  by  many  writers, 
both  contemporary  and  modern.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  III. 
the  great  justiciar  Hubert  de  Burgh  obtained  for  himself  a 
grant  of  land  from  the  Abbot  of  Westminster,  and  there 
built  himself  a  "  noble  Palace  "  within  convenient  distance 
of  the  royal  palace  and  the  law  courts  at  Westminster. 
Hubert  died  in  1242,  and,  either  by  his  will  or  by  a  previous 
sale,  this  property  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Black 
Friars  of  Holborn.  A  few  years  later  they  found  a  suitable 
purchaser  of  the  palace  in  Walter  de  Grey,  Archbishop  of 
York,  who  bought  it  for  his  see,  and  from  that  time  until  the 
fall  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  it  was  known  as  York  Place  and 
was  the  London  residence  of  the  archbishops  of  the  northern 
province.  During  this  period  it  served  for  a  time  as  a  royal 
palace,  since  Edward  I.  moved  his  Court  from  Westminster 
to  York  Place,  after  a  disastrous  fire  in  his  own  palace.     He 

P   2 


212      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

seems  to  have  used  York  Place  on  various  occasions,  and 
made  certain  alterations  to  suit  his  own  convenience. 
Westminster  was  rebuilt  by  Edward  II.,  but  in  1360 
Edward  III.  summoned  Parliament  to  York  Place,  although 
no  reason  is  assigned  for  its  use  for  this  purpose. 

The  character  of  the  old  palace,  however,  changed  during 
the  episcopate   of   Wolsey ;    not   only   did   he   rebuild  his 
palace,  but  the  magnificence  of  his  establishment  rivalled  if 
it  did  not  actually  outshine  the  Court  of  his  master.      The 
pages  of  Cavendish,  his  faithful  follower  and  biographer,  are 
full  of  descriptions  of  the  members  of  his  household,  their 
numbers,  their  liveries  and  servants,  and  the  many  tables  main- 
tained.    The  household  indeed  numbered  about  five  hundred 
persons,  and  the  cardinal  exercised  a  lavish  hospitality,  keep- 
ing practically  a  free  table  for  all  "  suitors  "  in  his  hall,  besides 
a  "  house  where  poor  men  were  accustomed  to  be  served."  ^ 
At  York  Place  he  delighted  in  receiving  and  entertaining  all 
ambassadors  and  important  visitors  to  England,  while  many  of 
his  most  gorgeous  entertainments  were  provided  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  Henry  VIII.    Many  of  the  deliberations  as  to  the 
king's  divorce  were  held  at  York  Place.     To  one  of  these  con- 
ferences, as  Cavendish  relates,  Wolsey,  as  legate,  summoned 
all   the   bishops    and   other   learned   men,   who   "debated, 
reasoned,  and  argued  "  the  king's  case,  but  came  to  no  con- 
clusion beyond  the  expediency  of  obtaining  the  opinions  of 
all  the  universities  of  Europe.     Wolsey  was  hastening  to  his 
fall,  and  the  final  acts  of  humiliation  were  performed  at  his 
London  palace.     To  Whitehall  came  the  Dukes  of  Suffolk 
and  Norfolk  to  demand  the  Great  Seal,  but    Wolsey  was 
obdurate   and   refused   to   yield   it   up    without   the   king's 

'  Letters  and  Papers  Hen.  VIII.,  v.,  no.  952,  p.  446. 


WHITEHALL  213 


written  command.  The  discomfited  messengers  were  forced 
to  return  to  Henry  to  report  their  non-success,  but  they 
returned  to  the  charge  next  day,  and  upon  the  presentation 
of  the  written  order,  Wolsey  gave  up  the  seal  and  his 
chancellorship.  To  York  Place  there  came,  too,  Master 
Shelley,  the  judge,  bringing  word  of  the  king's  determination 
to  seize  the  archbishops'  palace  and  make  it  a  royal  residence. 
The  cardinal  argued  pertinaciously  and  long  to  save  the 
possessions  of  the  see,  but  he  was  forced  to  give  in  with  the 
words  "  Howbeit,  I  pray  you,  show  his  majesty  from  me,  that  I 
must  humbly  desire  his  highness  to  call  to  his  most  gracious 
remembrance,  that  there  is  both  heaven  and  hell."  ^ 

The  king  entered  on  his  new  possession  and  shortly  began 
the  various  alterations  which  have  been  already  described. 
Most  important  was  the  change  of  name,  made  presumably 
not  only  to  banish  memories  of  the  days  of  the  cardinal, 
but  also  to  wipe  out  all  reference  to  the  spoliation  of  the  see 
of  York.  The  new  palace  was  at  first  known  as  the  king's 
new  manor  of  Westminster,  and  the  name  of  Whitehall  was 
only  gradually  introduced,  while  York  Place  still  recurred, 
even  in  official  documents,  for  several  years.  In  a  surprisingly 
short  time,  however,  Whitehall  became  the  name  in  current 
use,  and  the  common  report  as  to  the  cause  of  the  change  is 
voiced  by  Shakespeare  in  Henry  VIII.  (Act  iv.,  scene  i). 

Sir, 
You  must  no  more  call  it  York  Place ;  that's  past : 
For  since  the  Cardinal  fell,  that  title's  lost ; 
'Tis  now  the  King's  and  called  Whitehall. 

The  acquisition  of  the  new  palace  was  a  matter  of  great 
convenience  to  Henry  VIII.,  who  when  he  was  in  London 
had  no  suitable  residence,  since  the  palace  of  Westminster 

'  Cavendish:  Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  (ed.  1907),  p.  144-5. 


214      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

had  been  burnt  down  in  the  early  years  of  his  reign.  The 
king  and  his  successors  came  to  Whitehall  for  the  Parlia- 
mentary sessions,  and  there  the  members  of  both  Houses 
came  to  present  the  Address  to  the  Throne  on  the  opening  of 
Parliament.  One  of  the  first  official  acts  of  Henry  VIH.  in 
the  new  palace  was  the  reception  of  a  deputation  from  the 
Lower  House.  In  1529  the  Commons,  "  after  long  debate, 
determined  to  send  the  speaker  of  the  Parliament  to  the 
kinges  highnes,  with  a  greuous  complaynt,  agaynst  the 
bishop  of  Rochester,  and  so  on  a  day  when  the  kyng  was  at 
layser,  Thomas  Audeley  the  speaker  for  the  commons  and 
thirtie  of  the  chief  of  the  common  house,  came  to  the  kynges 
presence  in  his  palace  at  Westminster,  whiche  before  was 
called  yorke place  .  .  .  "^  In  the  same  palace,  where  Wolsey 
had  so  often  arranged  banquets  and  masques  to  cover  the 
meetings  between  the  king  and  Anne  Boleyn,  their  marriage 
took  place.  "  King  Henry  privilie  married  the  Lady  Anne 
Boleine  on  the  five  and  twentith  day  of  January  being 
S.  Paules  Day  "  in  his  closet  at  Whitehall.^  The  king  and 
his  new  queen  were  at  Whitehall  both  before  and  after  her 
coronation,  but  much  of  his  time  was  spent  at  Greenwich,  his 
favourite  residence,  and  there  Anne's  only  child,  Elizabeth, 
was  born.  After  the  execution  of  Anne  the  king  seems  to 
have  had  little  affection  for  the  place  that  had  been  so  closely 
connected  with  her.  He  kept  his  Court  at  Whitehall  at 
rarer  and  rarer  intervals,  but  he  was  seized  with  his  last  fatal 
illness  while  in  residence  there.  In  1547  all  the  brilliance 
of  the  early  part  of  his  reign  had  faded  ;  uncertainty  and 
persecution  had  driven  away  the  crowded  Court,  and  the 
old  king  was  nearly  deserted  as  he  lay  dying.     The  last  acts 

*  Hall:  Chronicle,  ed.  1809,  p.  766. 
^  Stowe  :  Annates,  ed.  1615,  p.  561. 


WHITEHALL  215 


of  the  king,  the  imprisonment  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk 
and  the  execution  of  his  son  Surrey,  the  poet,  showed 
no  mercy,  and  none  dared  tell  Henry  of  his  approaching 
death.  At  last  Sir  Anthony  Denny,  who  had  long  been 
the  keeper  of  Whitehall  Palace,  undertook  the  task  and 
brought  Archbishop  Cranmer  to  the  chamber  of  the  dying 
king.  "  The  last  office  the  Archbishop  did  for  the  King  his 
master  was  to  visit  him  in  his  last  sickness,  whom  of  all 
his  bishops  and  chaplains  he  chose  to  have  with  him  at 
that  needful  hour,  to  receive  his  last  comfort  and  counsel. 
But  the  King  was  void  of  speech  when  he  came,  though  not 
of  sense  and  apprehension.  For  when  the  King  took  him  by 
the  hand,  the  Archbishop  speaking  comfortably  to  him, 
desired  him  to  give  him  some  token  that  he  put  his  trust  in 
God  through  Jesus  Christ,  according  as  he  had  advised  him  ; 
and  thereat  the  King  presently  wrung  hard  the  Archbishop's 
hand,  and  soon  after  departed,  viz.,  January  the  aSth."^  His 
body  lay  in  state  at  Whitehall,  first  in  the  privy  chamber 
and  then  in  the  chapel,  the  arrangements  for  his  burial 
being  of  a  most  elaborate  nature.  "  On  Sunday  the  13th  of 
Febry,  when  the  Body  was  removed  from  the  Chapell  to 
the  Chariot  over  the  coffin  was  cast  a  pall  of  rich  cloath  of 
gold,  and  upon  it  a  goodly  ymage  like  to  the  Kyng's  person 
in  all  poynts,  wonderfully  richly  aparrelled  with  velvet  gold 
and  precious  stones  of  all  sorts,  holding  in  ye  right  hand  a 
Sceptre  of  gold,  in  the  left  hand  the  ball  of  the  world  with  a 
crosse  :  upon  the  head  a  crown  imperial  of  inestimable  value, 
a  collar  of  the  Garter  about  the  neck  and  a  garter  of  gold 
about  the  leg,  with  this  being  honourably  conducted  as  afore- 
said, was  tied  upon  the  said  coffin  by  the  Gentlemen  of  his 

*  Strype  :  Memorials  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  ed.  1812,  i.,  p.  199. 


2i6      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

privy  Chamber  upon  rich  cushions  of  cloath  of  gold  and  fast 
bound  with  silk  ribbands  to  the  pillars  of  the  said  Chariot  for 
removing."^  The  next  morning  the  funeral  procession  started 
on  its  way  to  Windsor,  where  the  king  was  to  be  buried,  and 
covered  a  space  of  four  miles  from  beginning  to  end. 

The  reign   of  Edward  VI.  adds  little  to  the  history  of 
Whitehall,  but  there  are  interesting  records  of  the  palace 
under  Queen   Mary.     During  the  greater  part  of  her  reign 
she  preferred   St.  James's,   and  only  went  to  Whitehall  for 
special    State  occasions.     At  the  time  of  her  marriage,  the 
happiest  and,  as  it  seemed,  the  most  successful  part  of  her 
reign,  the  Spanish  visitors  were    lodged  at  Whitehall  and 
took  part  in  many  ceremonies,  often  of  a  religious  character. 
In  the  year  1556  there  "  was  a  goodly  pressessyon  at  Whyt- 
hall  by  the  Spaneards  ;  the  hall  hangyd  with  ryche  cloth, 
and  at  the  (screen)  in  the  halle  was  a  auter  mad,  and  hangyd 
rychely  with  (a  canopy),  and  with  grett  baseins  clen  gylt  and 
candyll-stykes ;  and  in  the  (court)  at  iiii  corners  was  mad  iiii 
godly  auters  hangyd  with  clothe  of  gold,  and  evere  auter  with 
canepes  in  brodere  ;  and  (in  the)  court  mad  a  pressession  way 
with  C.  yonge  okes  sett  in  the  grond  and  of  evere  syd  sett  ard 
to  the  wall  with  gren  boughs ;  and  then  cam  the  pressessyon 
out  of  the  chappell  syngyng  and  playing  of  the  regalles  ;  and 
after  the  sacrement  borne,  and  over  ytt  the  rychest  canepe 
that  the  Quen  had,  with  vi  stayffes  borne  by  vi  goodly  men, 
and  a-bowt  the  sacrement  a  C.  torchys  burnyng,  and  sum  of 
whytt  wax ;  and  at  ever  autre  (was  ringing)  and  senst  with 
swett  odurs,  and  all  the  kyng('s)  garde  with  (partizans)  gyltt, 
and    after    to   messe   in    the    chappell,    and    song   by   the 


*  Leake :   Ceremonials,  ii.,  300,    cit.  Sheppard :   Old  Royal  Palace  of 
Whitehall,  p.  292-293. 


J 


WHITEHALL  217 


Spaneardes."  ^  The  diarist  John  Machyn,  in  whose  pages  this 
description  appears,  also  records  the  creation  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  and  a  celebration 
of  St.  George's  Day,  in  which  King  Philip  took  part.  The 
king  "  whent  a  prossessyon  at  Whyt-halle  (through  the  hall) 
and  round  abowt  the  court  hard  by  the  halle ;  and  so  (certain 
of)  the  knights  of  the  garter  as  they  whent  in  ther  (robes) 
of  the  garter ;  .  .  .  "  ^  On  another  occasion  a  Russian 
ambassador  came  to  England  and  was  received  in  audience 
by  the  queen,  passing  "  thraugh  the  halle,  and  the  gard 
stod  in  a-ray  in  ther  ryche  cottes  with  halbardes,  and  so 
up  to  the  quen('s)  chamber."  As  a  whole  Queen  Mary's 
Court  was  stately  and  solemn.  She  had  no  taste  for  the 
"revels",  which  figured  so  largely  in  the  expenses  of  the 
Courts  maintained  by  her  father  and  sister. 

Elizabeth  was  little  at  Whitehall  before  she  succeeded  to 
the  throne.  There  are  glimpses  to  be  obtained  of  her  coming 
to  visit  her  brother,  surrounded  with  the  state  she  already 
loved  so  dearly,  and  at  the  time  of  Mary's  coronation  her 
sister  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  procession  from  Whitehall 
to  Westminster  Abbey.  She  carried  the  crown,  an  honour 
which  was  distinctly  burdensome,  and  she  complained 
of  the  weight  of  the  crown  to  the  French  ambassador ; 
M.  de  Noailles,  however,  was  ready  with  the  flattering 
reply,  "  Be  patient ;  it  will  seem  lighter  when  on  your 
own  head."  Whitehall  was  shortly  afterwards  her  prison. 
The  princess  was  accused  of  complicity  in  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt's  rebellion  and  detained  at  the  palace,  until  she  was 
removed  to  closer  imprisonment  in  the  Tower.  After  her 
nominal  release  she  was  little  at  her  sister's  Court,  but  on  her 

'  Machyn  :  Diary  of  a  Resident  in  London  (Camden  Soc),  p-  io7- 
»  Ibid.,  p.  134. 


2i8      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

accession  she  gave  free  vent  at  Whitehall  to  the  love  of 
gaiety  and  splendour,  which  was  part  of  her  inheritance  from 
both  her  father  and  mother.  Much  of  her  time  was  spent  in 
magnificent  progresses  through  the  country,  but  she  made  her 
Court  the  home  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  day 
Not  only  did  the  handsome  young  courtier,  who  never  failed 
to  win  her  approval,  pass  his  days  in  attendance  on  the 
queen,  but  statesman  and  politician,  poet  and  scholar,  sailor 
and  adventurer,  found  at  her  Court  the  surest  recognition  of 
their  genius.  Elizabeth  frequently  kept  Christmas  and 
Twelfth  Night,  the  time  of  greatest  festivity,  at  Whitehall, 
and  many  of  the  plays  written  at  the  beginning  of  the  most 
famous  period  of  English  drama  were  acted  at  Court  for  the 
first  time.  An  old  play  was  rarely  produced  before  the  queen, 
and  it  must  have  been  an  anxious  time  for  the  author  and 
actors  as  they  watched  the  expression  of  her  face  for  signs 
of  approval  or  disapproval.  She  showed  her  disapproval 
instantly.  One  such  occasion  is  recorded  by  Machyn.  On 
December  31, 1559,  "  the  placers  play  shuche  matter  that  they 
wher  commondyd  to  leyff  off,  and  contenent  the  maske  cam 
in  dansyng."^  The  masque  was  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the 
entertainments  of  the  Court,  and  a  season  of  festivity  rarely 
passed  without  the  production  of  several  masques,  generally 
performed  immediately  after  a  play.  The  performance  had 
been  much  developed  and  elaborated  since  the  days  of  Wolsey 
and  Henry  VIIL,  and  some  of  the  most  magnificent  were 
prepared  for  the  amusement  of  the  various  French  and 
Spanish  ambassadors  who  came  to  the  Court  with  proposals 
for  the  hand  of  the  queen.  Elizabeth  dallied  with  them  and 
played  with  them,   but  in  the  meantime  they  were  royally 

'  Machyn:  Diary  of  a  Resident  in  London  (Camden  Soc),  p.  221. 


WHITEHALL  219 


entertained.  The  Prince  of  Sweden,  pressing  his  suit  in 
person,  was  probably  present  at  the  play  which  was  so 
brusquely  dismissed  by  the  queen,  since  the  next  day  he  "  rod 
to  the  cowrt  gorgyusle  and  rychele,  and  in  gard  in  velvet 
ierkyns  and  holbardcs  in  ther  handes,  and  mony  gentyll-men 
gorgyosly  with  chenes  of  gold."^  Some  years  later  the  Due 
de  Montmorency,  the  French  ambassador,  was  present  at  a 
masque  in  which  the  chief  characters  were  Apollo,  the  nine 
Muses  in  a  chariot,  Lady  Peace,  Argus,  and  Discord,  but 
the  most  splendid  entertainments  of  all  were  prepared  for  the 
reception  of  the  commissioners  sent  by  Catherine  de'  Medici 
to  propose  the  queen's  marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Anjou. 
The  new  banqueting-house,  already  described  at  length,  was 
built  for  the  occasion,  and  the  pageantries  occupied  many 
days  and  nights.  Anjou  himself  crossed  over  from  the 
Netherlands  and  remained  three  months  in  England  while 
the  marriage  articles  were  discussed.  He  was  received  with 
great  splendour,  and  on  his  departure  Elizabeth  accompanied 
him  to  Canterbury,  and  there  they  bade  one  another  farewell. 
The  queen  deceived  her  contemporaries  both  in  England  and 
in  France ;  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  she  ever  really 
contemplated  the  marriage,  though  she  allowed  the  negotia- 
tions to  be  carried  farther  than  on  any  previous  occasion. 
Perhaps  the  young  suitor  really  flattered  her  vanity,  but  she 
also  probably  felt  that  his  departure  broke  down  another 
barrier  which  stood  in  the  way  of  war  with  Spain.  "  The 
departure  was  mournful  betwixt  her  Highness  and  Monsieur, 
she  loth  to  let  him  go,  and  he  as  loth  to  depart.  Her 
Majesty,  on  her  return,  will  be  long  in  no  place  in  which  she 
lodged  as  she  went,  neither  will  she  come  to  White  Hall, 

•  Machyn:  Diary  of  a  Resident  in  London  (Camden  Soc.)  p.  221. 


220      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

because  the  places  shall  not  give  cause  of  remembrance  to  her 
of  him  with  whom  she  so  unwillingly  parted."^  An  embassy 
to  Elizabeth's  Court  spent  the  day  in  jousts  and  tournaments 
in  the  tilt  yard,  viewed  by  the  queen  and  chief  ambassadors 
from  the  gallery,  in  bear-baiting  and  cock-fighting,  and  the 
nights  at  plays,  masques,  and  dancing,  in  which  last  amuse- 
ment the  queen  was  highly  accomplished.  The  queen  received 
many  of  the  embassies  in  a  flattering  and  remarkable  manner. 
In  1579,  Duke  Casimir  arrived  in  London,  and  on  his  first 
coming  to  Court  at  Whitehall,  "  Her  Majesty  shewed  him 
greatest  countenance,  and  upon  his  coming,  meeting  with 
him,  offered  to  kiss  him,  which  he  humbly  altogether  refused. 
Upon  Her  Majesty  bringing  him  thro'  the  great  Chamber 
into  the  chamber  of  presence,  Her  Majesty  would  have  him 
put  on  his  hat,  which  in  no  wise  he  would,  offering  himself 
in  all  things  at  her  highness  commandment.  She  then 
replied  that  if  he  would  be  at  her  commandment,  he  should 
put  on  his  hat ;  he  expounded  that  it  should  be  in  all  things, 
save  in  things  to  his  reproach."  ^  She  was  fond  of  showing 
herself  to  her  subjects  in  all  possible  state,  and  many  proces- 
sions started  from  Whitehall  with  the  queen  at  their  head. 
"  On  Wednesdaie  the  five  and  twentith  of  Januarie  the 
parlement  began,  the  queenes  maiestie  riding  in  hir  parle- 
ment  robes,  from  hir  Palace  of  Whitehall,  unto  the  abbeie 
church  of  Westminster,  with  the  lords  spirituall  and 
temporall,  attending  hir  likewise  in  their  parlement  robes."  ^ 
On  other  occasions  she  went  by  water  with  a  procession  of 
barges ;  one  evening  at  eight  o'clock  she  set  out  and  went 
"  a-longe  by  the  banke-syd  by  my  lord  of  Wynchaster('s) 

*  Lodge  :  Illustrations  of  British  History,  ed.  1838,  ii.,  p.  203. 

^  Hist.  MSS.  Com.     Rep.  iv.,  p.  334  b. 

'  Holinshed  :  Chron.,  ed.  1587,  iii,,  p.  1180. 


WHITEHALL  221 


place,  and  so  to  Peper  alley,  and  so  crost  over  to  London  syd 
with  drumes  and  trumpetes  playhynd  and  be-syd,  and  so  to 
Whyt  hall  agayne  to  her  palles."  ^  Machyn  describes  the 
Maundy  of  the  year  1560,  which  Elizabeth  kept  at  Whitehall. 
The  "  Quen('s)  grace  kept  her  monde  in  her  halle  at  the  cowrt 
at  afternon,  and  her  grace  gayff  unto  xx  women  so  many 
gownes,  and  on  woman  had  her  best  gowne,  and  ther  her  grace 
dyd  wosse  ther  fett,  and  with  a  nuw  whyt  cupe  her  grace 
dronke  unto  evere  woman,  and  they  had  the  cupe,  and  so  her 
grace  dyd  leyke-wyse  unto  all,  and  every  woman  had  in 
money"  {blank).^  The  amount  of  money  given  is  omitted  in 
the  diary,  but  on  the  same  day  she  distributed  to  more  than  a 
thousand  men,  women,  and  children,  "  both  holle  and  lame," 
2d.  each,  as  they  were  collected  together  in  the  park.  Until 
her  last  illness  Elizabeth  kept  up  the  traditions  of  her  Court, 
attracting  to  it  fresh  adherents  as  her  old  courtiers  and 
followers  left  it  from  one  cause  or  another.  Richmond  was 
the  scene  of  her  death,  but  her  body  was  brought  to  White- 
hall, and  lay  in  state  there  from  March  24  to  April  28, 
when  the  funeral  procession  was  formed  to  take  her  to  her 
last  resting-place  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

The  palace  quickly  changed  from  a  scene  of  mourning  to 
one  of  rejoicing  to  welcome  the  arrival  of  the  new  king  from 
Scotland,  and  the  summer  was  passed  at  Court  in  busy 
preparations  for  the  coronation  of  James  L  With  his 
accession,  the  history  of  Whitehall  enters  on  its  most  famous 
period.  The  king  and  his  consort,  Anne  of  Denmark,  were 
even  more  devoted  "  revellers"  than  Queen  Elizabeth.  They 
had  none  of  her  method  and  economy ;  lavish  expenditure 
was  the  rule  of  the  day,  and  the  numbers  of  the  courtiers  and 

•  Machyn  :  Diary,  p.  200. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  230. 


222      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

of  the  tables  maintained  by  the  great  officials  were  increased. 
The  pensions  paid  by  the  king  were  raised,  in  some  cases 
even  doubled,  and  when  Charles  L  made  a  great  effort,  in 
the  early  years  of  his  reign,  to  reduce  his  expenditure,  he 
hoped  to  save  jTsOjOOO  a  year  by  regulating  his  Court 
according  to  the  old  standard  set  by  Elizabeth.  Her  good 
management  had  been  abandoned  in  other  directions, 
and  the  courtiers  were  reported  to  be  not  averse  to  the 
proposed  reductions,  if  their  pensions  were  paid  with  the  regu- 
larity of  the  old  queen's  time,  "  when  nothing  upon  earth  was 
surer  than  Exchequer  pay."  ^  The  Court,  too,  was  far  from 
peaceable,  and  the  crowd  of  Scotchmen  who  accompanied 
James  I.  were  as  unpopular  as  the  French  household  of 
Henrietta  Maria  in  the  next  reign.  When  Guy  Fawkes  was 
brought  bound,  to  Whitehall,  for  his  examination  in  the 
king's  chamber,  to  one  of  the  questions  put  to  him  he  replied, 
"  One  of  my  objects  was  to  blow  Scotchmen  back  to 
Scotland."  Even  when  the  unpopularity  of  the  Scottish 
invasion  had  died  down,  the  foreign  policy  of  James  L 
provided  a  ceaseless  and  sometimes  amusing  quarrel  between 
the  different  foreign  envoys  to  his  Court.  The  Spanish  and 
French  ambassadors  were  the  most  militant,  and  Sir  Dudley 
Carleton,  a  minute  retailer  of  Court  news,  gives  a  graphic 
picture  of  their  rivalries.  In  1609,  the  Twelfth  Night  enter- 
tainments were  postponed  till  Candlemas,  "  as  it  is  thought 
the  Spaniard  may  be  gone,  for  the  French  ambassador  hath 
been  so  long  and  so  much  neglected,  that  it  is  doubted  more 
would  not  be  well  endured."  ^  During  the  celebrations  in 
honour  of  the  creation  of  Prince  Henry  as  Prince  of  Wales, 
a  masque  was  performed,  to  which  all  the  ambassadors  were 

'  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  I.,  n.,  p.  41. 
^  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  James  I.,  i.,  p.  87. 


WHITEHALL  223 


invited  to  be  present  in  a  private  capacity ;  the  Spanish 
representative  accepted  and  the  Frenchman  refused.  On 
the  night  of  the  entertainment,  however,  the  Spaniard  sat  in 
state  by  the  king,  for  "  seeing  no  cause  to  the  contrary,  he 
put  off  Dofi  Taxis,  and  took  upon  him  El  Senor  Embaxadoiir, 
where  in  he  outstript  oiir  Utile  Monsieur.'"  ^  Monsieur 
Beaumont  indeed  was  extremely  angry  and  declared  that 
the  whole  Court  was  Spanish.  None  of  these  difficulties, 
however,  deterred  the  king  and  queen  from  their  amusements, 
and  their  patronage  was  especially  extended  to  the  masque. 
In  Elizabeth's  time,  the  queen  herself  had  never  taken  part  in 
a  masque,  but  Anne  of  Denmark  was  amongst  the  most 
energetic  performers.  She  employed  the  celebrated  men  of 
the  time  to  devise  them,  and  the  partnership  of  Ben  Jonson 
and  Inigo  Jones  produced  some  of  the  most  popular  masques, 
while  others  were  written  by  Campion,  Chapman,  and 
Daniel.  They  were  generally  performed  in  honour  of  a 
special  occasion,  such  as  the  successive  creations  of  Prince 
Henry  and  Prince  Charles  as  Prince  of  Wales  and  the 
marriages  of  Princess  Elizabeth  or  of  distinguished  courtiers. 
In  January,  1604,  Sir  Philip  Herbert  and  Lady  Susan  Vere 
were  married  at  Whitehall,  when  "  the  Court  was  great,  and 
for  that  Day  put  on  the  best  Bravery."  ^  The  ceremony  was 
followed  by  a  masque  and  banquet,  which,  although  gorgeous, 
seems  to  have  been  badly  arranged,  for  the  crush  was  so 
great  that  "  there  was  no  smal  Loss  that  Night  of  Chaines 
and  Jewells,  and  many  great  Ladies  were  made  shorter  by 
the  Skirts  .  .  .  "^  On  another  occasion,  the  "Night's 
Work  was  concluded  with  a  Banquet  in  the  great  Chamber, 
which  was  so  furiously  assaulted,  that  down  went  Table  and 


*  Winwood  :  Memorials,  ii.,  p.  44. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  43. 


224      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Tresses  before  one  bit  was  touched."  ^  In  the  same  year,  1604, 
little  Prince  Charles  was  created  Duke  of  York  on  Twelfth 
Day,  and  at  the  same  season  several  new  Knights  of  the 
Bath  were  made  by  the  king.  The  "  solemnity  of  the 
creation  was  kept  in  the  hall  where  first  the  duke  was 
brought  in  accompanyed  with  his  knights,  then  carried  out 
againe,  and  brought  back  by  earles  in  their  robes  of  the 
Garter.  My  Lord  Admiral  bare  him,  two  others  went  as 
supporters  and  six  marched  before  with  the  ornaments."  ^ 
A  few  years  later,  another  solemn  creation  was  the  occasion 
of  great  festivities.  Prince  Henry  was  created  Prince  of 
Wales  when  a  boy  of  sixteen.  He  came  to  Whitehall  by 
water,  attended  by  his  household,  and  on  the  way  many 
noblemen  came  out  to  meet  them,  the  stream  of  craft 
growing  longer  and  longer.  Finally  the  prince  was  met  by 
"  the  lord  mayor  and  aldermen  of  London,  with  the  severall 
companies  of  the  citie,  honourably  furnish't  and  appointed, 
and  disposed  in  faire  order,"  who  were  waiting  for  him  at 
Chelsea,  with  a  "great  train  and  sumptuous  showe,"  which 
included  "  two  artificiall  sea-monsters,  one  in  fashion  of  a 
whale,  the  other  like  a  dolphin,  with  persons  richly 
apparrelled  sitting  upon  them  .  .  .  "^  The  whole  proces- 
sion reached  Whitehall,  and  its  arrival  was  witnessed  from 
the  privy  gallery  by  the  king  and  queen,  the  Princess 
Elizabeth,  and  the  Duke  of  York,  while  the  prince  passed 
in  to  the  palace,  where  he  was  entertained  by  the  chief 
officers  of  the  household.  The  actual  creation  took  place  in 
the  Court  of  Requests  at  Westminster,  and  not  at  White- 
hall, whither  the  king  and  prince  returned  by  water  with 
much  state.     The  prince  dined  that  day  in  public  and  "  was 

*  Winwood  :  Memorials,  ii.,  44. 
"  Somers  :  Tracts,  ii.,  184. 


WHITEHALL  225 


served  with  great  state  and  magnificence,"  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  banquet  the  heralds  approached  his  table  and  pro- 
claimed the  titles  both  of  the  king  and  the  prince. 

Prince  Henry  died  only  two  years  after  his  creation,  and  in 
another  four  years  his  brother  was  advanced  to  the  same 
dignity.  The  ceremonies  connected  with  Prince  Charles's 
creation  were  in  some  respects  a  curious  repetition  of  those  in 
which  his  brother  had  taken  part ;  the  actual  creation,  how- 
ever, took  place  at  Whitehall,  but  "the  queen  would  not  be 
present  at  the  creation,  lest  she  should  renew  her  grief,  by 
the  memory  of  the  last  prince,  .  .  .  "  ^  By  far  the  most 
brilliant  occasion  in  the  history  of  Whitehall  in  this  reign 
was  the  marriage  of  Princess  Elizabeth  with  Frederick,  the 
Count  Palatine.  John  Chamberlain,  a  volumiinous  letter- 
writer,  viewed  the  wedding  procession  from  a  window  in  the 
jewel  house,  but  he  found  "  the  excess  of  bravery,  and  the 
continual  succession  of  company  "  so  dazzling,  that  he 
missed  much  of  what  he  hoped  to  see.  "  The  bridegroom 
and  bride  were  both  in  a  suit  of  cloth  of  silver,  richly 
embroidered  with  silver,  her  train  carried  up  by  thirteen 
young  ladies,  or  lords'  daughters,  at  least,  besides  five  or  six 
more  that  could  not  come  near  it.  These  were  all  in  the 
same  livery  with  the  bride,  though  not  so  rich.  The  bride 
was  married  in  her  hair,  that  hung  down  long,  with  an 
exceeding  rich  coronet  on  her  head,  which  the  king  valued 
the  next  day  at  a  million  of  crowns.  Her  two  bridemen 
were  the  young  prince  and  the  Earl  of  Northampton.  The 
king  and  queen  both  followed,  the  queen  all  in  white,  but 
not  very  rich,  saving  in  jewels.  The  king,  methought,  was 
somewhat    strangely  attired  in  a  cap  and  feather,  with  a 

*  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  James  /.,  i.,  435. 
R.P.  Q 


226      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Spanish  cape  and  a  long  stocking.  The  chapel  was  very 
straitly  kept,  none  suffered  to  enter  under  the  degree  of  a 
baron,  but  the  three  lords  chief  justices.  In  the  midst  there 
was  a  handsome  stage  or  scaffolding  made  on  the  one  side, 
whereon  sat  the  king,  prince.  Count  Palatine,  and  Count 
Henry  of  Nassau.  On  the  other  side,  the  queen,  with  the 
bride  and  one  or  two  more.  Upon  this  stage  they  were 
married  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  assisted  by  the 
Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  who  made  the  sermon.  It  was 
all  done  in  English,  and  the  Prince  Palatine  had  learned  as 
much  as  concerned  his  part  reasonably  perfectly."  ^  The 
same  evening,  after  the  bride  had  entertained  three  ambas- 
sadors at  dinner,  there  was  a  masque  performed  by  certain 
lords,  but  it  was  "  long  and  tedious,  and  more  like  a  play 
than  a  masque."  The  next  day  was  occupied  in  tilting  and 
similar  amusements,  in  which  the  king,  Prince  Charles,  and 
the  Count  Palatine  all  took  part,  and  at  night  "  was  the 
Middle  Temple  and  Lincoln's  Inn  masque  prepared  in  the 
hall  at  court,  whereas  the  lords  was  in  the  banqueting  room. 
It  went  from  the  Rolls,  all  up  Fleet  Street  and  the  Strand, 
and  made  such  a  gallant  and  glorious  show,  that  it  is  highly 
commended.  They  had  forty  gentlemen  of  best  choice  out 
of  both  houses,  and  the  twelve  masquers,  with  their  torch- 
bearers  and  pages,  rode  likewise  upon  horses  exceedingly 
well  trapped  and  furnished,  besides  a  dozen  little  boys, 
dressed  like  baboons,  that  served  for  an  anti-masque,  and, 
they  say,  performed  it  exceedingly  well  when  they  came  to 
it ;  and  three  open  chariots,  drawn  with  four  horses  apiece, 
that  carried  their  musicians  and  other  personages  that  had 
to  speak.     All  which,   together  with  their  trumpeters  and 

*  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  James  I.,  i.,  225. 


WHITEHALL  227 


other  attendants,  were  so  well  set  out,  that  it  is  generally  held 
for  the  best  show  that  hath  been  seen  many  a  day."  ^  Still 
another  masque  was  prepared  for  the  following  night,  by 
Gray's  Inn  and  the  Inner  Temple,  under  the  direction  of 
Sir  Francis  Bacon.  The  masquers  came  by  water,  with 
their  barges  charmingly  illuminated,  but  on  their  arrival  at 
Whitehall  they  met  with  an  untoward  check.  The  hall  was 
so  full  that  there  was  no  room  to  make  a  distinguished 
entry,  and  "  worst  of  all  was,  that  the  king  was  so  wearied 
and  sleepy,  with  sitting  up  almost  two  whole  nights  before, 
that  he  had  no  edge  to  it.  Where  upon.  Sir  Francis  Bacon 
adventured  to  entreat  of  his  majesty  that  by  this  difference 
he  would  not,  as  it  were,  bury  them  quick ;  and  I  hear,  the 
king  should  answer,  that  then  they  must  bury  him  quick,  for 
he  could  last  no  longer  .  .  .  "  ^  The  masquers  were  forced 
to  depart,  but  in  spite  of  this  disappointment  the  king 
ordered  them  to  appear  a  few  nights  later  and  was  so 
pleased  with  the  masque  that  he  invited  forty  of  them  the 
next  day  to  a  "  solemn  supper,"  for  which,  by  the  way,  he 
was  at  no  expense.  "  The  king  husbanded  the  matter  so 
well  that  this  feast  was  not  at  his  own  cost,  but  he  and  his 
company  won  it  upon  a  wager  of  running  at  a  ring,  of  the 
prince  and  his  nine  followers,  who  paid  ^^30  a  man."^  The 
Inns  of  Court  were  indeed  even  more  energetic  masquers 
than  the  courtiers,  and  kept  Christmas  and  Twelfth  Night 
with  such  vigour  that  on  one  occasion  the  disturbance 
reached  the  sleeping  Court  at  Whitehall.  "  The  gentlemen 
of  Gray's  Inn,  to  make  an  end  of  Christmas  on  Twelfth 
night  in  the  dead  time  of  the  night,  shot  off  all  the  chambers 

*  Birch:  Court  and  Times  of  James  /.,  i.,  226-227. 
2  Ibid.,  228. 
^  Ibid.,  229-230. 

Q  2 


228      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

they  had  borrowed  from  the  Tower,  being  as  many  as  filled 
four  carts.  The  king,  awakened  with  this  noise,  started  out  of 
his  bed,  and  cried,  *  Treason  !  Treason  !  '  and  that  the  city 
was  in  an  uproar ;  in  such  sort,  as  it  is  said,  that  the  whole 
court  was  raised,  and  almost  in  arms ;  the  Earl  of  Arundel 
running  to  the  bed-chamber  with  his  sword  drawn,  as  to 
rescue  the  king's  person."^ 

Charles  I.  kept  his  household  at  St.  James's  Palace  when 
Prince  of  Wales,  but  he  moved  to  Whitehall  immediately 
on  his  father's  death,  on  March  27,  1625.  Charles 
remained  in  retirement  until  April  g,  when  he  came  to 
sermon  at  Whitehall,  and  afterwards  remained  there  "  settling 
his  household."  He  made  an  effort  to  reduce  the  expenses 
of  the  Court,  which  was  "  kept  more  strait  and  private  than 
in  the  former  time,"^  but  his  economies  came  to  an  end  with 
his  marriage  the  same  summer  with  Princess  Henrietta  Maria 
of  France.  She  brought  a  crowd  of  French  attendants  in 
her  train,  and  the  difficulty  of  finding  the  necessary  supplies 
both  for  the  Government  and  for  the  Court  was  as  great  as 
ever  it  had  been.  In  1627  a  riot  outside  the  palace  was  only 
just  averted ;  '*  some  hundreds  of  sailors  went  for  their 
pay  to  Whitehall,  against  whom  the  gates  were  shut ;  but 
his  majesty  coming  into  the  gallery  to  see  them,  sent  unto 
them  a  gentleman,  with  a  message  that  they  should  depart," 
and  he  promised  that  they  should  be  paid  the  next  day 
near  the  Tower.  "  Whereat  they  threw  up  their  hats,  leaped 
and  cried,  *  God  save  King  Charles  ! '  and  so  separated."^ 
After  Charles's  marriage  with  Henrietta  Maria  the  question  of 
religion  quickly  came  to  the  front.     The  provision  of  a  Roman 

*  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  James  L,  ii.,  360. 
^  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  I.,  i.,  8. 
^  Ibid.,  i.,  189. 


WHITEHALL  229 


Catholic  chapel  for  the  queen  had  been  amongst  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  marriage  articles,  and  Mass  was  celebrated  in 
Whitehall  and  Somerset  House.  "  On  Friday  last,"  wrote  a 
protestant  on  June  24,  1625,  "the  queen  was  at  her  first 
Mass  in  Whitehall,  which  was  mumbled  over  to  her  majesty 
at  eleven  of  the  clock."  ^  So  strong  was  the  religious 
feeling  of  the  queen  that  she  refused  to  be  crowned  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  or  even  to  be  present  during  the  cere- 
mony of  Charles's  coronation,  although  she  watched  the 
procession  from  the  windows  of  Whitehall.  In  spite  of  the 
disturbances  between  the  English  and  French  courtiers, 
which  ended  in  the  dismissal  of  the  latter  at  the  end  of  a  few 
months,  the  Court  of  Charles  I.  and  Henrietta  Maria  was  far 
more  stately  and  dignified  than  it  had  been  in  his  father's 
time,  and  Bassompierre,  the  French  ambassador  to  England 
in  1626,  has  recorded  that  "The  company  was  magnificent  and 
the  order  exquisite."^  In  spite  of  spasmodic  attempts  at 
economy,  the  hospitality  exercised  by  the  English  king  was 
a  source  of  continual  amazement  to  foreigners.  Not  only 
the  king  and  the  royal  family  but  many  of  the  officers  of 
State  maintained  tables  at  Court,  to  the  number  of  eighty-six, 
"  whereof  the  King's  Tables  had  28  Dishes,  the  Queen's  24, 
the  whole  number  being  in  all  about  500  Dishes  each  Meal, 
with  Bread,  Beer,  Wine,  and  all  other  things  necessary."  ^ 
There  are,  however,  few  events  to  record  in  the  history  of 
Whitehall  in  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 
Afterwards  the  life  of  the  Court  was  clouded  by  the 
difficulties  between  the  king  and  Parliament,  and  politics 

'  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  I.,  i.,  2)3- 

"^  Bassompierre :  Memoirs  of  the  Embassy  to  the  Court  of  England  in 
1626,  ed.  1819,  p.  42. 
■  De  Laune :  Anglian  Metropolis,  ed.  1690,  p.  113. 


230      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

filled  the  horizon  for  contemporary  writers  rather  than 
ceremonies  and  revelling.  One  of  the  last  events  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  was  the  betrothal  of  the  king's 
eldest  daughter,  Mary,  with  the  Prince  of  Orange.  The 
ceremony  took  place  on  April  20,  1641,  in  the  Chapel 
Royal  at  Whitehall,  but  the  times  were  too  troubled  for  such 
festivity  as  had  graced  the  marriage  of  her  aunt.  The  next 
year  saw  the  final  struggle  between  Charles  and  the  Long 
Parliament.  The  Court  kept  Christmas  at  Whitehall,  but  so 
threatening  was  the  attitude  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
supported  by  the  City  of  London,  that  there  was  a  large 
gathering  of  cavaliers  at  the  palace,  to  act  as  a  special  body- 
guard of  the  king.  No  further  outbreak  took  place,  however, 
beyond  a  rather  serious  affray  between  the  cavaliers  and  the 
London  apprentices ;  but  the  king  withdrew  to  Hampton 
Court,  never  to  return  to  Whitehall  until  his  trial  and  death. 
From  the  time  that  he  was  delivered  over  to  the  Parlia- 
mentarians by  the  Scots,  Charles  L  was  practically  a  prisoner, 
and  as  each  attempt  at  negotiation  failed,  the  extremists, 
represented  by  the  Council  of  Officers,  demanded  with 
increasing  urgency  his  deposition  and  afterwards  his  execu- 
tion. It  was  at  last  decided  that  the  king  should  be  tried 
by  a  specially  constituted  Court  of  justice,  and  from  Caris- 
brooke  he  was  brought  to  Windsor  and  shortly  afterwards  to 
London.  He  arrived  at  St.  James's  Palace  on  January  19, 
1649,  and  the  same  day  crossed  the  park  to  Whitehall, 
where  he  occupied  his  own  bedchamber,  with  sentinels  at 
the  door  and  a  guard  of  musqueteers  in  the  palace.  That 
night  was  passed  in  Whitehall,  the  king  being  in  the  charge 
of  Colonel  Tomlinson  and  attended  by  Herbert  alone  of  his 
own  servants.  The  trial  began  next  day.  Charles  was 
carried  in  a  sedan  chair  to  the  house  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton 


WHITEHALL  231 


and  thence  to  Westminster,  "none  but  Mr.  Herbert  going 
bare  by  the  King  ;  no  other  of  his  Majesty's  Servants  going 
along  King  Street  or  Westminster-Hall,  the  Soldiers  hinder- 
ing them."  ^  There  is  much  divergence  of  evidence  as  to  the 
place  in  which  the  king  passed  the  nights  during  the  trial, 
but  probably  it  was  generally  in  St.  James's  Palace.  Some 
historians,  however,  state  that  he  slept  at  Whitehall,  but  this 
seems  a  mistake,  arising  possibly  from  ignorance  of  the  fact 
that  the  ordinary  route  from  St.  James's  to  Westminster  lay 
by  Whitehall,  and  thence  either  by  King  Street  or  by 
water.  Herbert  omits  to  mention  that  Charles  was  taken 
on  some  days  by  the  latter  route,  but  Philip  Henry,  whose 
father  was  Keeper  of  the  Orchard  at  Whitehall,  with  a  house 
near  the  Garden  Stairs,  relates  that  as  an  Oxford  under- 
graduate he  was  at  home  in  January,  1649,  "and  during  my 
stay  there  at  that  time  at  Whitehal  it  was  that  I  saw  the 
Beheading  of  King  Charles  the  first ;  He  went  by  our  door  on 
Foot  each  day  that  hee  was  carry'd  by  water  to  Westminster, 
for  hee  took  Barge  at  Garden-stayres,  where  wee  liv'd,  &  once 
hee  spake  to  my  Father  &  sayd  Art  thou  alive  yet  !  "  ^  The  last 
day  of  the  trial  was  on  Saturday,  January  27.  On  that 
day  Bradshaw  delivered  the  judgment  of  the  Court,  by  which 
the  king  was  condemned  to  death.  Herbert  describes  how 
the  king  was  brought  to  Whitehall  in  a  closed  chair  through 
King  Street,  closely  guarded,  "  But  Shop-Stalls  and  Windows 
were  full  of  People,  many  of  which  shed  Tears,  and  some  of 
them  with  audible  Voices  pray'd  for  the  King,  who  through 
the  Privy-Garden  was  carried  to  his  Bed-Chamber;  whence 
after  Two  Hours  space,  he  was  removed  to  St.  James's."^ 

^  Herbert :    Memoirs  of  the   Two   Last   Years  of  the  Reign    of  King 
Charles  I.,  ed.  1813,  p.  159. 

^  Philip  Henry  :  Diary,  ed.  1882,  p.  12. 
'  Herbert,  op.  cit.,  p.  168. 


232      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

According  to  the  journal  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  the  king 
spent  the  next  two  nights  at  Whitehall  and  did  not  go  to 
St.  James's  till  Monday,  but  Herbert's  account  is  more  likely 
to  be  correct,  especially  as  he  is  corroborated  by  Sir  Philip 
Warwick.  The  last  two  days  the  king  spent  in  preparation 
for  his  death,  attended  by  Dr.  Juxon,  the  Bishop  of  London, 
and  he  did  not  leave  St.  James's  again  until  the  morning  of 
the  30th,  the  day  fixed  for  his  execution.  The  scaffold  was 
hastily  prepared  on  the  Monday.  "  The  high  court  of  justice 
appointed  a  committee  to  inspect  parts  about  Whitehall  for 
a  convenient  place  for  the  execution  of  the  King;  who 
having  made  their  report,  it  was  agreed,  that  a  scaffold 
should  be  erected  to  that  purpose  near  the  Banqueting- 
house,  and  order  given  to  cover  it  with  black.  The  same 
day,  being  the  2gth  of  January,  they  signed  a  warrant  for  his 
execution,  to  which  about  threescore  of  the  commissioners  set 
their  hands  and  seals  ;  .  .  ."  ^  Everything  was  ready  early  on 
Tuesday  morning ;  "  the  King  was  brought  from  St.  Jameses 
walking  on  foote  through  the  Parke,  with  a  regiment  of  foote, 
part  before  and  part  behinde  him,  with  coulers  flying,  drums 
beating,  his  private  guard  of  partisans  with  some  of  his  gentle- 
men before  and  some  behinde,  bare-headed, — Doctor  Juxon 
next  behinde  him,  and  Collonel  Tomlinson  (who  had  the 
charge  of  him)  talking  with  the  King  bareheaded,  from  the 
Parke  up  the  staires  into  the  Gallerye,  and  so  into  the 
chamber  where  he  used  to  lye.  .  .  ."  ^  Herbert  faithfully 
records  the  events  of  the  last  hour  in  the  palace.  The  king 
and  his  attendants  remained  in  the  bed-chamber,  "where, 
after  a  little  Repose,  the  Bishop  went  to  Prayer;  which, 
being  done,  his  Majesty  bid  Mr.  Herbert,  bring  him  some 

*  Aungervyle  Soc.  Reprints,  x.  (ist  ser.),  65. 

2  Sidney  Papers  :  Journal  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  ed.  Blencowe,  p.  59. 


WHITEHALL  233 


Bread  and  Wine,  which  being  brought,  the  King  broke  the 
Manchet,  and  eat  a  Mouthful  of  it,  and  drank  a  small  Glassful 
of  Claret-Wine,  and  then  was  sometime  in  private  with  the 
Bishop,  expecting  when  Hacker  would  the  third  and  last 
time  give  warning.  Mean  time  his  Majesty  told  Mr. 
Herbert  which  Satin  Night-Cap  he  would  use,  which  being 
provided,  and  the  King  at  private  Prayer,  Mr.  Herbert 
address'd  himself  to  the  Bishop,  and  told  him,  The  King  had 
ordered  him  to  have  a  White  Satin  Night-Cap  ready,  but 
was  not  able  to  endure  the  sight  of  that  Violence  they  upon 
the  Scaffold  would  offer  the  King.  The  good  Bishop  bid  him 
then  give  him  the  Cap,  and  wait  at  the  end  of  the  Banquet- 
ting-House,  near  the  Scaffold,  to  take  care  of  the  King's 
body ;  for  (said  he)  that,  and  his  Interment,  will  be  our  last 
Office."^  Herbert  omits,  however,  an  incident  that  Colonel 
Tomlinson  recalled  during  the  trial  of  Colonel  Hacker,  after 
the  Restoration.  Mr.  Henry  Seymour  approached  while 
they  were  waiting  in  the  bed-chamber,  with  a  letter  from 
Prince  Charles,  which  was,  with  the  colonel's  help,  delivered 
to  the  king  ;  Charles  read  it,  and  "  gave  several  things  in 
charge  to  Mr.  Seymour,  to  acquaint  the  prince  with,  and 
was  pleased  to  mention  to  him  something  of  civility  that  I  had 
shewn  him  in  his  imprisonment."  ^  But  to  return  to  Herbert's 
narrative :  "  Colonel  Hacker  came  soon  after  to  the  Bed- 
Chamber-Door,  and  gave  his  last  signal ;  the  Bishop  and 
Mr.  Herbert,  weeping,  fell  upon  their  Knees,  and  the  King 
gave  them  his  Hand  to  kiss,  and  help'd  the  Bishop  up,  for  he 
was  aged." 

"  Colonel  Hacker  attending  still  at  the  Chamber-Door,  the 
King  took  notice  of  it,  and  said,  Open  the  Door,  and  bade 

'  Herbert,  op.  cit.,  p.  191-192. 
*  State  Trials,  v.,  11 79. 


234      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Hacker  go,  and  he  would  follow.  A  Guard  was  made  all  along 
the  Galleries  and  the  Banqueting-House ;  but  behind  the 
Soldiers  abundance  of  Men  and  Women  crowded  in,  though 
with  some  Peril  to  their  Persons,  to  behold  the  saddest  sight 
England  ever  saw.  And  as  his  Majesty  pass'd  by,  with  a 
chearful  Look,  heard  them  pray  for  him,  the  Soldiers  not 
rebuking  any  of  them ;  by  their  silence  and  dejected  Faces 
seeming  afflicted  rather  than  insulting.  There  was  a  Passage 
broken  through  the  Wall,  by  which  the  King  pass'd  unto  the 
Scaffold."^  Herbert,  as  he  himself  relates,  could  not  face  the 
execution  of  his  master,  and  thus  omits  all  that  happened 
on  the  scaffold.  Philip  Henry  stood  amongst  the  crowd 
and  describes  the  scene  from  a  spectator's  point  of  view. 
"  On  the  day  of  his  execution,  which  was  Tuesday, 
Jan.  30,  I  stood  amongst  the  crowd  in  the  street  before 
Whitehal  gate,  where  the  scaffold  was  erected,  and  saw 
what  was  done,  but  was  not  so  near  as  to  hear  any  thing. 
The  Blow  I  saw  given,  &  can  truly  say  with  a  sad  heart ;  at 
the  instant  whereof,  I  remember  wel,  there  was  such  a  Grone 
by  the  Thousands  then  present,  as  I  never  heard  before  & 
desire  I  may  never  hear  again."  ^  The  scaffold  was  hung 
round  with  black  and  the  floor  covered  with  black  ;  in  the 
middle  was  set  the  block,  while  near  it  staples  had  been 
driven  into  the  scaffold,  with  chains  attached  to  them,  in  order 
to  bind  the  king  should  he  at  the  last  minute  have  resisted. 
After  reaching  the  scaffold  Charles  made  a  speech  and 
declaration  of  faith.  "  '  I  declare  before  you  all,  that  I  dye  a 
Christian  according  to  the  profession  of  the  Church  of 
England,  as  I  found  it  left  me  by  my  father ;  and  this  honest 
man,  pointing  to  Dr.  Juxon,  I  thinke  will  witness  it,'  &c."  ^ 

*  Herbert,  op.  cit.,  p.  193. 

"  Philip  Henry:  Diary,  p.  12. 

^  Sidney  Papers,  p.  60. 


WHITEHALL  235 


Dr.  Juxon  then  spoke,  and  the  kin^  turned  to  the  executioners, 
who  were  "  disguised  in  saylors  clothes,  with  visards  and 
peruques  unknown  .  .  .  ,"  ^  and  said,  "  I  shall  say  but  very 
short  prayers,  and  then  thrust  out  my  hands."''  He 
called  for  his  night-cap  and,  by  the  desire  of  the  executioner, 
his  hair  was  put  inside  the  cap.  Turning  to  Dr.  Ju.xon,  he 
said,  "  I  have  a  good  cause  and  a  gracious  God  on  my  side," 
and  the  bishop  replied,  "  There  is  but  one  Stage  more,  this 
Stage  is  turbulent,  and  troublesome,  it  is  a  short  one,  but  you 
may  consider,  it  will  soon  carry  you  a  very  great  way,  it  will 
carr}^  you  from  Earth  to  Heaven,  and  there  you  shall  find  a 
great  deal  of  Cordial  Joy  and  Comfort."  The  king  :  "  I  go 
from  a  corruptible  to  an  incorruptible  Crown  where  no 
disturbance  can  be."  Dr.  Juxon :  **  You  are  exchanged 
from  a  Temporal  to  an  Eternal  Crown,  a  good  Exchange."^ 
Charles  then  took  off  his  cloak  and  his  George,  giving  the 
latter  to  the  bishop,  with  the  famous  word  "  Remember,"  and, 
after  a  few  small  ceremonies,  "  the  King  stooping  down  laid 
his  Neck  upon  the  Block,  and  after  a  very  little  Pause,  stretch- 
ing forth  his  Hands,  the  Executioner,  at  one  Blow,  severed  his 
Head  from  his  Body."  "The  King  died  with  true  Magnanimity 
and  Christian  Patience ;  ...  At  the  Scene  were  many  sighs 
and  weeping  Eyes,  and  diversstrove  todip  their  Handkerchiefs 
in  his  Blood,  as  in  the  Blood  of  a  martyr."  ^  So  wrote  White- 
locke,  but  a  republican  pamphlet  records  that  Charles  I.  "  lived 
an  enemy  to  the  commonwealth,  and  died  a  martyr  to  pre- 
rogative." *  The  second  executioner,  after  the  fatal  stroke  had 
been  given,  held  up  the  head  of  the  king  and  showed  it  to  the 

'  Sidney  Papers,  p.  60. 

^  Whitelocke  :  Memorials,  p.  375. 

»  Ibid. 


*  Somers  :  Tracts,  vi.,  loi. 


236      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


people,  who  were  afterwards  scattered  and  dispersed  as  fast 
as  might  be  by  a  regiment  of  horse.  When  all  was  over,  the 
head  and  body  were  placed  in  a  coffin,  covered  with  a  black 
velvet  pall,  and  delivered  to  Bishop  Juxon.  He  together 
with  Herbert  conveyed  it  to  the  back  stairs  to  be  embalmed 
by  the  surgeon  Topham,  and  in  the  interval  waited  in  the 
long  gallery.  When  the  embalmment  was  completed,  the 
coffin  was  removed  to  the  king's  lodging-chamber  in 
Whitehall,  but  afterwards  it  was  carried  to  St.  James's, 
there  to  await  the  decision  of  the  Council  as  to  the  place  of 
burial. 

Much  controversy  has  raged  round  various  points  in  the 
history  of  the  execution,  which  the  contemporary  accounts 
have  left  curiously  vague.  One  of  these  points,  the  position 
of  the  scaffold  in  relation  to  the  banqueting-house,  is,  of 
course,  closely  connected  with  the  history  of  Whitehall. 
There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  scaffold  was  erected  on 
the  western  face  of  the  banqueting-house.  The  warrant 
specifies  the  "  open  street  before  Whitehall,"  meaning  plainly 
the  open  space  between  the  banqueting-hall  and  the  tilt 
yard,  through  which  there  was  a  public  way,  and  this  is,  of 
course,  corroborated  by  Philip  Henry's  account  of  the  execu- 
tion already  quoted.  More  difficult  is  the  problem  as  to  the 
exact  position  of  the  scaffold  on  the  western  face  of  the 
banqueting-house  and  the  route  by  which  the  king  and  his 
guard  reached  it.  The  most  probable  solution  seems  to  be 
that  the  king  entered  by  an  outside  staircase  on  the  eastern 
or  river  side  of  the  banqueting-house,  entering  by  one  of  the 
windows  of  the  Ionic  storey.  He  passed  along  the  hall  to  the 
northern  end,  where  a  passage  had  been  broken  through  the 
wall,  thus  giving  admittance  to  a  small  building  that  then 
existed  against  the  northern  face.     From  the  window  of  the 


WHITEHALL  237 


room  he  had  thus  reached  the  king  stepped  on  to  the  scaffold, 
which  extended  along  the  western  face  to  the  second  or  third 
window. 

The  news  of  the  execution  of  the  King  of  England  was 
received  with  horror  at  the  different  Courts  of  Europe  and 
stunned  net  only  the  Royalists,  but  many  of  the  more 
moderate  Parliamentarians,  who  echoed  the  closing  lines 
of  an  epitaph  on  Charles  I.  : — 

Thy  suff' rings  and  thy  death  let  no  man  name 
It  was  thy  glory,  but  the  kingdom's  shame. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Cromwell  and  the  army 
remained  the  most  powerful  force  in  the  kingdom,  and  the 
General  was  the  next  important  occupant  of  Whitehall. 
The  offices  of  state  in  the  palace  were  used  by  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  many  of  the  numerous  committees  held  their 
meetings  there,  while  the  more  important  leaders  had  grants 
of  apartments.  Cromwell  occupied  the  Cockpit  lodgings, 
but  the  palace  was  reserved  for  his  use  when  he  assumed  the 
office  of  Lord  Protector.  From  Whitehall  the  procession 
started  for  "  the  grand  solemnization  of  the  General's 
Protectorship,"^  which  was  performed  "with  no  less  state 
and  magnificence  than  any  former  Kings  have  used.  From 
Whitehall  to  Westminster,  a  lane  of  soldiers  being  made, 
his  Excellency,  seated  in  a  rich  coach,  the  Lord  Mayor  in 
one  boot.  Major  General  Lambert  and  another  in  'tother, 
advanced  leisurely,  attended  with  a  multitude  of  coaches,  the 
colonels,  officers,  and  lifeguard  all  on  foot  bareheaded  (as  were 
all  from  my  Lord  Mayor  to  the  meanest.)"^  State  apart- 
ments were  prepared  for  the  Protector's  use,  and  in  April, 
1654,  "  the  Privy  Lodgings  for  his  Highnessthe  Lord  Protector 

»  Egmont  MSS.,  vol.  i.  pt.  2,  532  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.). 
2  Ibid. 


238      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

in  Whitehall  are  now  in  readiness,  and  also  the  lodgings  for 
his  Lady  Protectress";^  they  were  furnished  richly,  and 
Cromwell  maintained  several  tables  for  his  household.  M. 
de  Bordeaux  relates  that  though  his  officers,  who  surrounded 
him,  cared  little  about  "  fineness  of  apparel,"  yet  "  To- 
wards the  Foreign  Ambassadors,  the  Protector  deports 
himself  as  a  king,  for  the  power  of  kings  is  not  greater  than 
his."^  There  are,  however,  but  few  events  to  record  at 
Whitehall  during  the  Interregnum.  That  experiment  in 
Parliaments,  the  assemblage  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
godly  men,  which  is  known  in  history  as  Barebones'  Parliament, 
first  met  in  the  council  chamber  in  the  palace,  where  only  six 
months  later  the  Speaker  and  a  following  of  members  were 
induced  by  Cromwell  to  render  up  its  power.  In  1656  the 
Government  was  disturbed  by  the  discovery  of  a  plot  which 
had  the  twofold  object  of  assassinating  the  Protector  and 
burning  down  his  palace.  It  was,  however,  discovered  in 
time,  and  Cromwell  received  the  congratulations  of  Parlia- 
ment on  his  escape,  the  members  pressing  up  to  the  hall  of 
the  banqueting-house  in  such  numbers  that  the  outside 
entrance  staircase  gave  way  beneath  their  weight.  The 
Lord  Protector  was  carried  during  his  last  illness  from 
Hampton  Court  to  Whitehall,  and  there  nominated  his 
son  Richard  Cromwell  as  his  successor.  He  died  on 
September  3,  1658,  surrounded  by  many  Puritan  divines,  and 
outside  the  palace  a  terrible  storm  raged,  that  uprooted  some 
of  the  finest  trees  in  St.  James's  Park,  an  omen  interpreted 
in  very  different  ways  by  the  opposing  factions  of  the  time. 
His  corpse  lay  in  state  at  Whitehall  until  his  burial  in  Henry 
the  Seventh's  Chapel  at  Westminster.      The  poet  Cowley 

*  Weekly  Intelligencer,  cit.  Loftie  :   Whitehall,  p.  64. 
^  Loftie  :   Whitehall,  p.  65. 


WHITEHALL  239 


was  a  spectator  of  the  stately  funeral  procession.  "  There 
was  a  mighty  train  of  black  assistants,  among  which,  too, 
divers  princes  in  the  persons  of  their  ambassadors  (being 
infinitely  afflicted  for  the  loss  of  their  brother)  were  pleased 
to  attend  ;  the  hearse  was  magnificent,  the  idol  crowned,  and 
(not  to  mention  other  ceremonies  which  are  practised  at 
royal  interments,  and  therefore  by  no  means  could  be  omitted 
here)  the  vast  multitude  of  spectators  made  up,  as  it  uses  to 
do,  no  small  part  of  the  spectacle  itself.  But  yet,  I  know 
not  how,  the  whole  was  so  managed  that,  methought,  it 
somewhat  represented  the  life  of  him  for  whom  it  was  made  ; 
much  noise,  much  tumult,  much  expense,  much  magnificence, 
much  vainglory ;  briefly  a  great  show,  and  yet,  after  all  this, 
but  an  ill  sight."  ^ 

The  restoration  of  the  Stuart  kings  was  as  important  an 
event  in  the  history  of  Whitehall  as  their  first  accession. 
Charles  H.  returned  to  the  palace  on  May  29,  1660.  "  You 
must  excuse  me  and  all  friends  now,"  wrote  a  correspondent 
that  day,"  for  writing  any  more,  by  reason  we  are  now  spec- 
tators of  his  Majesty's  coming  to  Whitehall,  where,  the  Lord 
be  praised,  he  is  come  safe  at  six  of  the  clock,  and  in  so  much 
state  and  joy  that  you  must  expect  it  in  print  by  a  better 
hand.  But  by  travellers  it  is  averred  that  no  King  in 
Christendom  was  ever  received  in  more  triumph  and  rich 
reception,  and  now  we  be  going  to  make  bonfires  and  use 
other  ceremonies  of  joy."  ^  Whitehall  quickly  regained  its  old 
character.  "  At  this  time  the  Court  at  Whitehall  (the  Duke 
of  York  and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  having  theirs  distinct 
from  the  king's)  was   very  splendid."^     The   rejoicing  was 

*  Chambers:  English  Poets,  vii.,  173,  174. 

^  Egmont  MSS.,  vol.  i.  pt.  2,  614  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.). 

*  Memoirs  of  Sir  John  Reresby  (ed.  1875),  p.  48. 


240      ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

dimmed  for  a  time  by  the  deaths  of  Mary,  Princess  of  Orange, 
and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  both  of  which  occurred  at 
Whitehall,  only  a  few  months  after  the  king's  return.  Of  the 
palace  under  Charles  II.  much  has  been  written,  and  de 
Grammont,  Pepys,  and  Evelyn,  of  contemporary  writers,  have 
left  vivid  descriptions  of  the  amusements,  life,  and  manners 
of  the  Court  of  the  Restoration. 

The  old  scale  of  magnificent  and  wasteful  hospitality  was 
revived,  although  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign  Charles  com- 
plained in  a  speech  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament  that  he 
could  only  maintain  his  own  table  at  Whitehall,  adding, 
"  that  which  troubles  me  most  is,  to  see  many  of  you  come  to 
me  at  Whitehall,  and  to  think  you  must  go  some  where  else 
to  seek  your  dinner."  ^  The  same  functions  were  the  occasions 
of  special  festivity  after  the  Restoration  as  before,  the  recep- 
tion of  ambassadors,  creations,  and  marriages.  The  Royal 
Society  owed  its  foundation  charter  to  Charles  II.,  and  in 
1662  "  the  Council  and  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society  went 
in  a  body  to  Whitehall,  to  acknowledge  his  Majesty's  royal 
grace  in  granting  our  Charter,  and  vouchsafing  to  be  him- 
self our  Founder :  when  the  President  made  an  eloquent 
speech,  to  which  his  Majesty  gave  a  gracious  reply,  and  we 
all  kissed  his  hand."^  The  king's  personal  interest  in  scientific 
matters  is  witnessed  by  Pepys,  who  went  into  the  "  King's 
little  elaboratory,  under  his  closet,  a  pretty  place  ;  and  there 
saw  a  great  many  chymical  glasses  and  things,  but  under- 
stood none  of  them."^  In  1667  the  celebrations  on  St. 
George's  Day  by  the  Knights  of  the  Garter  were  held  at 
Whitehall.     After  the  services  in  the  chapel,  "  they  proceeded 

^  Somers  :  Tracts,  vii.,  465.  , 

^  Evelyn  :  Diary,  August  29,  1662. 
^  Pepys:  Diary,  January  15,  i668-g. 


WHITEHALL  241 


to  the  banqueting-house  to  a  great  feast.  The  King  sat 
on  an  elevated  throne  at  the  upper  end  at  a  table  alone;  the 
Knights  at  a  table  on  the  right  hand,  reaching  the  length  of 
the  room ;  .  .  .  About  the  middle  of  the  dinner  the  Knights 
drank  the  King's  health.  Then  the  King,  theirs,  when  the 
trumpets  and  music  played  and  sounded,  the  guns  going  off  at 
the  Tower.  .  .  .  The  cheer  was  extraordinary,  each  Knight 
having  forty  dishes  to  his  mess,  piled  up  five  or  six  high ;  the 
room  hung  with  richest  tapestry."^ 

Three  marriages  of  importance  in  the  royal  family  took 
place  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  The  little  Duke  of 
Monmouth  was  married  to  the  Duchess  of  Buccleugh  in  1663, 
in  the  king's  chamber  in  Whitehall,  and  the  next  year 
lodgings  in  the  old  tennis  court  were  made  ready  for  his 
reception.  Many  of  the  festivities  on  the  arrival  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange  in  1677  took  place  in  Whitehall,  although 
his  marriage  with  Princess  Mary,  the  eldest  niece  of  the 
king,  was  actually  celebrated  in  St.  James's  Palace.  Her 
sister's  marriage,  however,  six  years  later,  with  Prince  George 
of  Denmark,  took  place  in  Whitehall  itself,  and,  unlike  the 
Princess  of  Orange,  Anne  and  her  husband  remained  in 
England,  occupying  the  Cockpit  apartments. 

Among  the  list  of  important  residents  in  the  palace,  two 
names  of  particular  interest  occur  at  this  time :  General 
Monk,  who  was  created  Duke  of  Albemarle  by  Charles  II., 
was  granted  apartments  in  Whitehall,  in  which  he  died  in 
1670,  and  Dr.  Titus  Oates,  during  the  Popish  plot,  received 
both  lodgings  and  a  handsome  pension. 

The  amusements  at  the  Court  changed  in  character  during 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.;  the  masque  disappeared,  its  place  ■ 

'  Evelyn  :  Diary,  April  23,  1667. 
R.P.  R 


242      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

being  taken  by  more  ordinary  balls.  Pepys  watched  a  ball 
at  Court  in  1662,  at  which  the  king  and  queen  and  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  of  York  were  present,  and  he  recorded  that  the 
king  "dances  rarely,  and  much  better  than  the  duke."^ 
At  other  times  there  were  concerts  of  instrumental  and 
vocal  music,  at  which  both  the  king  and  queen  were 
frequently  present,  but  more  especially  popular  at  Court  was 
the  theatre.  A  new  playhouse  was  built  at  Whitehall,  and 
Charles  practically  threw  it  open  to  the  public — a  great 
innovation,  since  any  one  could  get  admission  by  paying.  As 
a  rule  the  plays  were  performed  by  regular  companies,  but 
on  one  occasion  a  play  called  "  The  Indian  Emperor  "  was 
acted  by  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Monmouth  and  other 
courtiers;  and  Pepys  records  that  the  majority  of  them  could 
do  nothing  "  but  like  fools  and  stocks."  Gaming  occupied  the 
evenings  even  more  than  in  previous  reigns,  when  the  play 
had  been  high  enough,  and  Pepys  was  shocked  that  the 
Portuguese  queen  played  on  Sunday.  In  1685  Charles  II. 
was  seized  with  illness  in  his  private  apartments.  The  illness 
of  the  king  had  been  entirely  unexpected  by  his  Court, 
where,  six  days  before  his  death,  Evelyn  had  watched  and  con- 
demned "the  inexpressible  luxury  and  profaneness,  gaming, 
and  all  dissoluteness  .  .  .  ."^  To  the  king  came  various  of 
his  chaplains  and  other  Anglican  divines,  who  were  present 
at  the  moment  of  his  death,  but  the  Duke  of  York  intro- 
duced the  Jesuit  priest  Father  Huddleston,  secretly  and  in 
disguise,  and  to  them  the  king  made  his  declaration  of  faith 
and  received  the  last  rites  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  died 
on  February  5,  and,  unlike  so  many  of  his  predecessors,  was 


'  Pepys  :  Diary,  December  31,  1662. 
^  Diary,  February  4,  1685. 


WHITEHALL  24^ 


buried  privately,  his  corpse  being  conveyed  by  water  from 
Whitehall  to  Westminster. 

In  spite  of  the  excitement  that  had  prevailed  in  the 
country  over  the  question  of  the  succession,  no  immediate 
opposition  was  aroused  against  James  II.,  and  he  was  pro- 
claimed King  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  by  the  heralds  at 
Whitehall  Gate.  He  removed  with  Queen  Mary  of  Modena  to 
the  royal  apartments  at  Whitehall,  where  he  horrified  many  of 
his  subjects  by  attending  Mass  openly,  and  moreover  gave 
apartments  to  the  Jesuit  Father  Petre,  to  whose  bad  advice 
and  influence  his  deposition  was  attributed  by  many  of  his 
contemporaries.  The  dramatic  incidents  that  ended  his 
reign  were  enacted  in  the  main  within  the  palace  of  White- 
hall. There  he  first  learnt  of  the  arrival  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  and  there  he  insisted  on  the  flight  of  the  queen  with 
the  infant  Prince  of  Wales,  in  spite  of  her  entreaties  to 
remain  and  share  his  dangers.  In  disguise  she  left  the 
palace  by  the  back  stairs,  with  her  little  son  in  her  arms, 
and  before  daybreak  embarked  undiscovered  and  crossed  the 
river  to  Lambeth.  After  various  alarms,  she  and  her  atten- 
dants reached  France  in  safety,  while  the  king  advanced 
with  his  army  to  meet  his  son-in-law.  Desertion  after 
desertion  brought  him  to  despair  and  he  retreated  to  Lon- 
don. At  Whitehall  James  decided  to  leave  the  country  and 
successfully  reached  Faversham.  There,  however,  he  was 
stopped  by  some  fishermen,  thinking  him  a  Jesuit  in  dis- 
guise, and  he  was  forced  to  return  to  London.  On  Sunday, 
about  four  in  the  afternoon,  James  "  came  through  the  City, 
preceded  by  a  great  many  Gentlemen  bare-headed,  and 
followed  by  a  numerous  Company  with  loud  huzzas.  The  King 
stopped  at  the  Queen-Dowager's  before  he  came  to  White- 
hall, and  the  evening  concluded  with  ringing  of  bells  and 

R   2 


244      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

bonefires."^  The  Londoners  were  fickle  and  indeed  hardly 
knew  which  king  they  desired,  and  in  the  palace  all  was  uncer- 
tainty and  confusion.  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  the  Dukes 
of  Grafton  and  Ormond,  Lord  Churchill,  and  many  others  had 
joined  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  finally  Princess  Anne  left 
her  lodgings  in  the  Cockpit  on  November  26,  the  night 
before  the  king's  return,  at  midnight,  accompanied  only  by 
Lady  Churchill,  Lord  Dorset,  and  Bishop  Compton.  His 
daughter's  desertion  was  the  final  blow  dealt  to  the  king,  and 
he  acquiesced  in  the  message  sent  by  the  prince  and  delivered 
to  him  at  Whitehall  at  midnight  by  the  Marquis  of  Halifax, 
the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and  Lord  Delamere,  that  he  must 
again  retire  from  Whitehall,  since  *'  the  prince  did  not  think 
it  safe  for  him  to  come  to  London  so  long  as  his  Majesty 
had  such  a  confluence  of  papists  still  about  him."  ^  On  the 
prince's  approach  to  London  he  sent  the  Comte  de  Solmes, 
at  the  head  of  the  Dutch  Guards,  to  occupy  Whitehall,  and 
James  forbade  the  resistance  ^contemplated  by  the  old  Earl 
of  Craven.  The  king  embarked  at  Whitehall  on  December  17, 
and  for  the  last  time  sailed  down  the  Thames,  followed  by 
ten  or  twelve  boats  full  of  the  prince's  soldiers.  On  the 
same  day  that  the  king  left  Whitehall  the  prince  entered 
London,  but  took  up  his  residence  at  St.  James's,  and  at 
once  visited  the  queen-dowager  and  the  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Denmark,  who  had  returned  to  Whitehall.  The  Princess 
of  Orange  arrived  in  England  in  January  and  was  received 
with  great  acclamations  of  joy.  Her  behaviour  on  her 
arrival  at  Whitehall  has  drawn  many  censures  upon  her, 
even  from  Bishop  Burnet.  Mary  "came  in  to  Whitehall 
laughing  and  jolly,  as  to  a  wedding,  so  as  to  seem  quite 

'  Ellis  :  Original  Letters  (ser.  2),  iv.,  175. 
2  Ibid.,  iv.,  179. 


WHITEHALL  245 


transported."  ^  The  last  event  of  great  importance  at  the 
palace  took  place  on  February  13,  1689.  The  Convention 
Parliament  met  at  Westminster  and  settled  the  crown  on 
William  and  Mary.  The  two  Houses  then  marched  to  the 
banqueting-house  at  Whitehall  and  offered  them  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  an  offer  which  was  accepted.  The 
new  king  and  queen,  however,  were  but  little  at  Whitehall.  Its 
low  situation  near  the  waterside  increased  the  king's  ill-health, 
and  when  his  minister  Halifax  urged  the  inconvenience  of 
his  residing  at  Hampton  Court,  "  his  answer  was  that  it  was 
not  to  be  done  except  he  desired  to  see  him  dead;  .  .  .  "^ 
Queen  Mary  died  in  1694,  and  her  funeral  procession  was 
formed  at  Whitehall  and  passed  through  the  precincts  of  the 
palace  on  its  way  to  Westminster.  Only  four  years  intervened 
between  this  event  and  the  great  fire  of  1698,  and  thus  with 
the  death  of  the  queen  the  history  of  Whitehall  as  a  royal 
palace  was  brought  to  its  close. 

The  later  history  of  the  banqueting-house  is,  however, 
worthy  of  mention.  After  the  accession  of  George  I.  the 
ruins  of  the  old  Chapel  Royal  at  Whitehall  were  cleared 
away ;  the  banqueting-house  had  been  occasionally  used 
for  Divine  service  after  the  fire,  and  in  1724  it  was  officially 
converted  into  the  Chapel  Royal,  the  king  being  present  at 
the  opening  ceremony.  It  was  so  used  until  iSgi,  but  in 
that  year  it  was  decided  to  close  it  for  Divine  service  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  Chapel  Royal  Commissioners,  and 
Sir  Henry  Ponsonby  wrote  to  them  that  Queen  Victoria  was 
"  glad  to  lend — from  January  i,  1891 — the  banqueting 
hall  to  the  United  Service  Institution  on  such  terms  as  the 


*  Evelyn:  Diary,  February  31,  1689. 
^  Memoirs  of  Sir  John  Rcresby,  p.  460. 


246      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Lord  Chamberlain  might  consider  advisable."^  It  is  now 
used  as  the  museum  of  the  Institute,  and  within  its  walls  are 
collected  the  relics  of  many  heroes  of  both  services,  of  Drake 
and  Nelson,  Cromwell  and  Wellington,  and  side  by  side  with 
these,  the  relics  of  Napoleon  in  the  last  days  at  St.  Helena. 

*  Sheppard  :  The  Old  Royal  Palace  of  Whitehall,  p.  21. 


§>t.  3^me0*6  (paface. 


THE  view  of  St.  James's  Palace,  from  St.  James's 
Street,  must  always  come  with  surprise  to  the 
Londoner,  whose  eyes  are  accustomed  to  the 
very  different  styles  of  architecture  in  its  imme- 
diate neighbourhood.  The  beautiful  Tudor  gateway,  red 
brick  and  embattled,  almost  alone  among  the  public  buildings 
of  London,  takes  him  back  with  no  misgiving  to  the  days  of 
its  royal  builder.  King  Henry  VIH.,  and,  although  the  rest 
of  the  palace  is  of  later  date,  outwardly  the  Tudor  charac- 
teristics have  been  perpetuated.  St.  James's  did  not  become 
the  official  residence  of  the  English  Court  for  many  years, 
but  was  generally  assigned  to  the  heir  to  the  throne  until 
the  destruction  of  Whitehall  by  fire  necessitated  the  migra- 
tion of  the  sovereign  across  St.  James's  Park.  During  the 
Commonwealth  the  royalist  ballad-makers  bewailed  the  dis- 
mantled state  of  Whitehall ;  after  the  Restoration  they 
rejoiced  in  its  recovered  glories,  but  not  till  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne  was  St.  James's  recognised  as  the  home  of  the 
Court  in  the  public  mind.  A  Whig  ballad  on  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht  witnesses  this  change  : 

King  Jemmy  fights  for  England, 

Queen  Anne  did  die  for  France, 
And  he  that  at  St.  James' 
His  interest  would  advance, 

To  Paris  straight  must  go,  etc.* 

'  Wilkins  :  Political  Ballads,  ii.,  113. 


248      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

From  this  time  the  English  Court  was  known  as  the  Court 
of  St.  James's,  and  though  Buckingham  Palace  has  been 
for  many  years  the  residence  of  the  sovereign,  the  name 
still  persists,  bearing  witness  to  the  important  role  played  by 
England  during  the  reigns  of  the  Georges,  when  the  Court 
was  still  lodged  at  St.  James's  Palace. 

The  history  of  St.  James's  before  it  became  a  royal  palace 
is  old  and  curious,  but  also  very  uneventful.  The  palace  was 
built  on  the  site  of  a  leper  hospital,  said  traditionally  to  have 
been  founded  by  the  citizens  of  London  before  the  Norman 
Conquest.  Originally  the  hospital  was  in  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Abbot  of  Westminster,  but  Henry  VL  granted  it  to  his 
new  foundation  at  Eton,  which  held  it  at  the  time  of  the  disso- 
lution of  the  monasteries.  In  1532  the  Provost  and  College 
of  Eton  granted  the  site  of  the  hospital  called  "  Saynt  James 
in  the  Feld  "  with  its  lands  in  London  to  King  Henry  VHL 
and  received  two  manors  in  exchange.  The  inmates  of  the 
hospital  were  pensioned  and  their  house  pulled  down,  to  be 
rebuilt,  under  the  superintendence  of  Thomas  Cromwell, 
while  the  lands  in  the  field  of  Westminster  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  new  park  that  the  king  enclosed,  which  is  still 
known  as  St.  James's  Park.  The  palace  has  been  added  to 
by  many  sovereigns,  but  parts  of  King  Henry's  palace  still 
survive.  The  clock  tower  and  gateway,  the  Chapel  Royal, 
the  Tapestry  room,  the  chimney-piece  in  the  presence 
chamber,  bearing  the  initials  H.  &  A.,  six  turrets  surmount- 
ing different  parts  of  the  building  and  much  of  the  brickwork, 
all  date  from  his  time.  Henry  himself,  however,  resided  but 
rarely  at  St.  James's  and  granted  it  to  Thomas  Cromwell,  who 
lived  there  for  some  time,  and  Mary  was  the  first  sovereign 
who  occupied  the  palace  for  any  continuous  length  of  time. 
She  was  much  attached  to  St.  James's,  where  she  lived  when 


=s( 


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yfluuiii 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  249 

in  London,  only  going  to  Whitehall  for  State  functions.  In 
the  stormy  days  of  Wyatt's  rebellion,  the  rebel  army 
marched  to  Charing  Cross,  where  a  skirmish  was  fought 
and  many  men  were  slain.  As  they  passed  by  the  palace 
they  shouted  "  God  save  Queen  Mary."  In  the  same  year 
St.  James's  was  the  scene  of  a  more  peaceful  event.  Philip 
of  Spain  was  in  England  as  a  suitor  for  the  queen's  hand, 
and  on  St.  George's  Day  she  went  in  procession  with  all  the 
Knights  of  the  Garter  to  St.  James's,  where  Philip  and  the 
Earl  of  Sussex  were  created  knights  of  the  Order.  The 
religious  functions  at  Queen  Mary's  Court  were  gorgeous 
and  numerous,  and  were  at  times  accompanied  with 
much  feasting;  "at  the  Cowrt  of  sant  James,  the  quen('s) 
grace  whent  a  prossessyon  within  sant  James  with 
harolds  and  serjants  of  armes,  and  iiii  bysshopes  mytred, 
and  all  iii  days  thay  whent  her  chapell  a-bowt  the  feldes, 
first  day  to  sant  Gylles  and  ther  song  masse ;  the  next 
day  tuwysse-day  to  sant  Martens  in  the  feldes,  (and  there) 
a  sermon  and  song  masse,  and  so  they  dronke  ther ;  and  the 
iii  day  to  Westmynster  and  ther  a  sermon  and  then  masse, 
and  mad  good  chere  ;  and  after  a-bowt  the  Parke,  and  so  to 
sant  James  cowrt  ther."^  The  brilliance  of  Mary's  Court  soon 
faded  away,  and  the  religious  difficulties  in  England  and  the 
troubles  of  the  Spanish  foreign  policy  engulfed  the  country 
in  gloom.  The  loss  of  Calais  was  the  final  tragedy  of  her 
reign,  but  the  queen  still  hoped  that  King  Philip  would  come 
to  her  aid  and  join  her  in  England.  In  failing  health,  she 
was  carried  to  St.  James's  to  receive  him.  She  made  all 
arrangements  for  his  coming,  but  Feria,  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador, at  last  bluntly  told  her  that  his  master  was  too  busy 

*  Machyn  :  Diary  of  a  Resident  in  London  (Camden  Soc),  p.  6i, 


250      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

to  leave  the  Netherlands.  Philip  concluded  peace  on  the 
best  terms  he  could  secure,  but  in  spite  of  Mary's  efforts  the 
restoration  of  Calais  to  England  was  neither  included  in  the 
treaty  nor  undertaken  by  force  of  arms.  At  St.  James's 
she  signed  the  treaty  giving  up  the  last  English  possession 
in  France,  and  all  hope  of  Philip's  return  being  over,  she  grew 
rapidly  worse  in  health.  Few  of  her  Court  remained  with 
her.  She  had  alienated  the  affections  of  the  country  ;  her 
courtiers  and  councillors,  even  the  paid  agents  of  Spain, 
deserted  her  at  St.  James's  and  paid  their  court  to  Princess 
Elizabeth  at  Hatfield.  Only  Mrs.  Clarencius  and  the 
Countess  Feria,  once  Mary's  favourite  maid  of  honour,  Jane 
Dormer,  remained  with  the  dying  queen.  On  November  i6 
the  Council  once  more  met  at  St.  James's  and  assembled  in 
the  queen's  bed-chamber,  where  the  Master  of  the  Roils  read 
her  will.  Mary,  however,  was  already  unconscious,  and  the 
following  morning  Mass  was  celebrated  in  her  presence ;  the 
last  rites  were  performed,  and  soon  afterwards  the  queen  died. 
A  gorgeous  funeral  was  accorded  to  the  first  queen  regnant 
of  England,  in  marked  contrast  with  the  neglect  that  she 
had  suffered  in  her  last  illness.  Her  body  lay  in  the  chapel 
at  St.  James's  till  December  lo,  when  it  was  conveyed  to 
Westminster ;  "  the  corps  of  Queene  Marie  was  honour- 
ablie  conveyed  from  hir  manor  of  S.  James  unto  the  Abbeie 
of  Westminster.  Hir  picture  was  laid  on  the  coffin,  apparelled 
in  her  roiall  robes,  with  a  crown  of  gold  set  on  the  head 
thereof,  after  a  solemn  manner."^  At  the  head  of  the  pro- 
cession there  was  a  standard,  which  was  follov/ed  by  a 
great  company  of  mourners ;  then  came  another  standard 
with  King  Philip's  servants,  riding  two  and  two.     Behind  a 

^  Nichols  :  Progresses  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  i.,  33. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  251 

third  standard  rode  the  Marquis  of  Winchester,  bearing  the 
banner  of  England,  accompanied  by  the  different  heralds 
with  the  insignia  of  the  crown.  The  Somerset,  Lancaster, 
Windsor,  and  York  heralds  carried  banners  depicting  saints, 
embossed  with  gold,  and  immediately  preceded  the  chariot  in 
which  the  coffin  was  placed.  The  members  of  the  Chapel 
Royal  with  the  bishops  and  a  procession  of  monks  surrounded 
the  chariot,  singing  as  they  went,  and  finally  came  the 
queen's  ladies,  "  rydyn,  alle  in  blacke,  trapyd  to  the  grond."  ^ 
Thus  the  procession  made  its  way  to  the  Abbey,  and  this 
service,  the  last  royal  ceremony  in  which  the  regular  clergy 
publicly  took  part,  marked  the  end  of  the  old  order.  The 
completeness  of  the  change  brought  about  by  the  accession 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  was  shown  even  in  the  place  of  residence 
of  the  new  queen,  who  came  but  little  to  St.  James's.  She 
had  been  there  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VL,  coming  to 
London  "  with  a  grett  compeny  of  lordes  and  knyghtes  and 
gentyll  men,  and  after  her  a  grett  nomburof  lades  and  gentyll 
women  to  the  nombur  of  ii  C  on  horsse-bake,  and  yomen,"  ^ 
but,  as  queen,  she  rarely  spent  a  night  at  St.  James's,  except 
perhaps  as  she  went  or  returned  from  one  of  her  progresses ; 
on  one  occasion,  as  she  returned  to  London,  she  was  received 
by  two  hundred  citizens  of  London  "  of  the  gravest  sort,  in 
cotes  of  velvet,  and  chaines  of  gold,  on  horssebacke,  and  a 
thousand  of  the  Companies  on  foot  (having  with  them  a 
thousand  men  with  torches  readie  there  to  give  light  on 
everie  side,  for  that  night  drew  on)  .  .  .  ."  ^  On  another  of 
these  visits  her  favourite,  Robert  Dudley,  was  created  Earl 
of  Leicester,  and  in  1588,  during  the  gravest  crisis  of  her 

^  Machyn:  Diary^-p.  183. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  16. 

•  Nichols  :  Progresses  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  ii.,  423. 


252      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

reign,  when  Philip  II.  at  last  sent  out  his  great  Armada,  she 
came  with  her  Court  to  St.  James's. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  Stuarts  came  to  the  throne 
that  the  palace  again  played  a  definite  part  in  the  life  of  the 
Court.  It  was  granted  to  the  heir  to  the  throne  for  the  time 
being,  and  became  the  home  of  a  brilliant  Court  which  indeed 
sometimes  rivalled  that  of  the  king  at  Whitehall.  James  I. 
came  to  St.  James's  on  his  arrival  in  London  and  remained 
there  until  after  his  coronation,  but  he  made  Whitehall  his 
permanent  residence,  assigning  St.  James's  to  his  eldest  son, 
Prince  Henry.  The  prince  gathered  around  him  many  of 
the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  day,  while  his  household 
numbered  at  least  five  hundred  persons,  for  whose  accommo- 
dation various  alterations  in  the  palace  were  carried  out. 
The  prince  "  oversaw  his  house  and  expenses  himself,"  as 
well  as  preserving  strict  order  in  his  Court.  His  treasurer, 
Cornwallis,  tells  a  quaint  story  of  how  Prince  Henry,  when 
only  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  old,  had  "  boxes  kept  at  his 
three  severall  standing  houses.  Saint  James,  Richmond,  and 
Nonsuch,  causing  all  those  who  did  swear  in  his  hearing  to 
pay  moneys  to  the  same,  which  were  after  duly  given  to  the 
poor ;  .  .  ."  ^  He  also  gave  much  time  to  perfecting  himself 
in  the  art  of  war,  and  at  St.  James's  played  what  is  now 
called  a  war  game  with  "  battailes  of  headmen  appointed  both 
on  horse  or  foot,  in  a  long  table." ^  The  different  captains 
who  returned  from  service  abroad  were  received  by  him, 
amongst  them  being  a  well-known  Dutch  engineer,  and  the 
prince  and  his  attendants  were  expert  in  the  exercises  of  the 
tournament  and  tilt  yard.  The  Christmas  previous  to  his 
creation  as  Prince  of  Wales  he  issued  a  challenge  for  a  great 

*  Somers  :  Tracts,  ii.,  228. 
2  Jbid.,  p.  230. 


.iiir 


•  J, 


<: 
V 


\r. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  253 

tournament  which  was  held  in  the  tilt  yard  of  Whitehall  on 
Twelfth  Day.     Both  assailants  and  defendants  were  enter- 
tained at   St.  James's,  and  after  the    fight  "  a    magnificke 
feast  "  was  held  there,  "  at  which  his  majestie,  his  highnesse, 
his  brother  and  sister,  with  all  the  other  earles,  lords,  and 
knights   of  the   court,   were    present  ;    where,    after   supper 
(according  as  before   they  had  been  judged)  his  highnesse 
gave  three   prises,  to  the  three   best  deserving,   viz.  to  the 
right  honourable  the  earl  of  Montgomery  one,  and  to  Sir 
Thomas  Darcy,  and  Sir  Robert  Gurdon,  knights,  the  other 
two."  ^    It  was  not  only  in  the  arts  of  war  that  the  young  Prince 
of  Wales  strove  to  become  proficient,  but  Cornwallis  speaks 
of  his  interest  in  "  building  and  gardening,  and  in  all  sorts 
of  rare    musique,    chiefly    the    trumpet    and    drumme  ;     in 
limming,  painting  and  carving,  in  all  sorts  of  excellent  and 
rare  pictures,    which   he    had    brought    unto    him    from    all 
countries."^     He  began,  in  fact,  the  collection  of  works  of 
art  for  which  St.  James's  was  afterwards  famous,  while  the 
nucleus  of  the  royal  library  was  moved    to  the  palace  by 
James  I.  in  order  to  encourage  his  son's  taste  for  learning. 
The  prince  held  his   Court  at  St.  James's  only  for  a  short 
time,  for  he  died  there  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen,  during 
the  festivities  held  in  honour  of  the  marriage  of  his  sister 
Princess  Elizabeth  with  the  Count  Palatine.     The  funeral 
was  attended  with  all  the  pomp  usual  on  such  occasions,  and 
the  procession  which  started  from  the  palace  was  attended 
by  two  thousand  mourners.     His    death,   however,  caused 
real  grief  in  the  country,  where  his  early  promise  had  raised 
many  hopes ;  and,  according  to  the  extravagant  language  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  "  Prince  Henry  was  the  darling  of 

*  Somers  :  Tracts,  ii.,  229. 
"^  Ibid.,  p.  250. 


254      ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

mankind,  and  a  youth  of  vast  hopes,  and  wonderful  virtues ; 
but  was  too  soon  man  to  be  long  lived."  ^ 

St.  James's  Palace  was  assigned  to  Prince  Charles  as  the 
next  heir  to  the  throne,  and  he  lived  there  until  he  succeeded 
to  the  crown  on  the  death  of  James  I.  There  is  little  to 
relate  of  the  palace  while  he  was  still  Prince  of  Wales,  except 
the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
chapel.  While  Prince  Charles,  accompanied  by  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  was  in  Madrid  pursuing  his  harebrained 
courtship  of  the  Spanish  Infanta,  he  ordered  that  a  chapel 
should  be  built  at  all  possible  speed  for  her  use,  "  Mr. 
Surveyor  Jones"  being  especially  recommended  as  the 
architect.  Preparations  were  made  in  the  palace  for  the 
reception  of  the  Infanta ;  *'  The  Spanish  ambassador  hath 
been  at  St.  James's  and  Denmark  House,  to  fit  and  appoint 
her  lodgings,  with  many  alterations ;  especially  there  must 
be  a  new  chapel  built  in  either  place;  .  .  ."^  and  shortly 
afterwards,  on  May  i6,  1623,  "  was  the  first  foundation  of  the 
new  chapel,  at  St.  James's,  for  the  Lady  Mary  of  Spain  in 
the  afternoon.  The  Spanish  ambassador  made  a  cross  on  the 
first  stone,  laid  it  in  mortar,  made  a  prayer  in  French,  that 
God  would  dispose  of  that  foundation  to  his  glory,  and  the 
good  of  the  church,  and  universal  good  of  all  christians,  and 
gave  j^8o  to  the  workmen  ;  his  son  laid  the  second  stone, 
and  gave  them  ^80."^  The  negotiations  for  the  Spanish 
match  came  to  nothing,  and  James  I.  at  last  made  the  great 
revolution  in  his  foreign  policy,  of  which  there  is  a  curious 
echo  in  the  history  of  St.  James's.  The  break  with  Spain 
involved  the  support  of  the  Count  Palatine,  whose  emissary, 

1  Welwood  :  Memoirs  of  Transactions  in  England  (ed.  1820),  p.  20. 

2  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  James  I.,  ii.,  394. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  400. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  255 

Count  Mansfield,  had  come  to  London,  seeking  in  vain  any 
help  from  the  English  king  for  his  master;  in  1624,  however, 
the  count  removed  from  his  obscure  lodging  and  w^as  well 
received  at  Court,  being  "  lodged  by  the  Prince  at  St.  James's, 
in  the  very  chamber  intended  for  the  Infanta  .  .  ."^     The 
chapel  was  finished  for  the  use  of  another  Catholic  princess, 
Henrietta    Maria   of   France,    who    brought    in  her  train  a 
bishop    and   twenty-nine    priests,    fourteen    of  whom    were 
Theatines,  on  her  arrival  in  England  as  the  bride  of  Charles  L 
St.  James's  was  granted  to  the  new  queen,  who  was  much 
attached  to  the  palace,  where  she  had  "her  intertainements 
and  devotions,  for  which  the  new-built  Chappel  is  decently 
adorned,    and   the  new-come   Capuchins   lodged    commodi- 
ously  beyond  the  austeritie  of  their  rule  .  .  ."^      Besides 
her  priests,  the  queen  brought  with  her  a  numerous  train  of 
French  attendants,  who  were  lodged  at  St.  James's,  where 
their  expenses  and  maintenance  are  said  to  have  cost  the 
king  about  £240  a  day.     This  extravagance,  added  to  the 
unpopularity  of  the  foreigners  in  England  and  their  inter- 
ference in  English  politics,  induced  Charles  only  a  few  months 
after  his  marriage  to  take  the  extreme  step  of  dismissing  the 
whole  French  household.     About  three  o'clock  one  afternoon 
the  king  went  to  the  "  queen's  side  "  in  Whitehall  and  led 
her  to  his  apartments,  locking  the  door  and  shutting  out  every 
one.      In  the  meantime,    "  Lord    Conway  called  forth  the 
French  bishop  and  othersof  that  clergy  into  St.  James's  Park, 
where  he  told  them,  the  king's  pleasure  was,  all  her  majesty's 
servants  of  that  nation,  men  and  women,  young  and  old,  should 
depart  the    kingdom.  .  .  .  The    king's  message    being  thus 
delivered  by  my  Lord  Conway,  his  lordship,  accompanied 

>  Cal.  S.  P.  Dom.,  1623-25,  p.  223. 

'  Ellis:  Original  Letters  (2nd  ser.),  iii.,  260. 


256      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

with  Mr.  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  Controller,  went  to  the  queen's 
lodgings,  and  told  all  the  French  likewise,  that  were  there,  that 
his  majesty's  pleasure  was,  they  should  all  depart  thence  to 
Somerset  House,  and  remain  there  till  they  knew  further  his 
Majesty's  pleasure.     The  women  howled  and  lamented,  as  if 
they  had  been  going  to  execution,  but  all  in  vain  ;  for  the 
yeomen  of  the  guard,  by  that  lord's  appointment,  thrust  them 
and  all  their  country  folks  out  of  the  queen's  lodgings,  and 
locked  the  doors  after  them."^     In  spite  of  the  indignation  of 
the  queen,    the  wrath  of  the  French  ambassador,  and  the 
remonstrances  of  the  French  bishop,  all  the  members  of  the 
household  were  forced  to  leave  the  country  with  the  exception 
of  one  or  two  women  attendants.     After  their  departure,  the 
housekeeper  at  St.  James's  reported  to  the  king  that  they  had 
"  so  defiled  the  house,  as  a  week's  work  would  not  make  it 
clean,"  and  they  are  further  said  to  have  carried  off  everything 
belonging  to  the  queen's  wardrobe  that  they  could  lay  hands 
on,  *'the  queen  having  left  her  but  one  gown  and  two  smocks 
to  her  back."     They  were  "  entreated  by  some  of  the  lords  of 
the  council  to  send  her  majesty  some  apparel ;  so  they  sent  her 
only  one  old  satin  gown,  keeping  all  the  residue  themselves,"'^ 
and  this  in  spite  of  very  generous  treatment  by  the  king. 
Henrietta    Maria   was    frequently   at    St.    James's    Palace, 
and  there  three  of  her  children,  Charles  L,  James  IL,  and 
Mary,    Princess    of    Orange,    were    born.       In    1639    she 
fitted  up  the  palace  with  much  care  and  splendour  for  the 
reception   of  her   mother,  the  Queen-Dowager   of    France. 
Marie  di  Medici  arrived  at  the  palace,  accompanied  by  King 
Charles,  and  was  greeted  in  the  courtyard  by  the  Queen  of 
England,  surrounded  by  all  her  children-and  many  ladies. 

*  Birch :  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  I.,  i.,  119-120. 
2  Ibid.,  i.,  122. 


ERRATUM. 
Page  256,  line  24,  for  "  Charles  I."  read  "  Charles  II." 


256      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

with  Mr.  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  Controller,  went  to  the  queen's 
lodgings,  and  told  all  the  French  likewise,  that  were  there,  that 
his  majesty's  pleasure  was,  they  should  all  depart  thence  to 
Somerset  House,  and  remain  there  till  they  knew  further  his 
Majesty's  pleasure.  The  women  howled  and  lamented,  as  if 
they  had  been  going  to  execution,  but  all  in  vain  ;  for  the 
yeomen  of  the  guard,  by  that  lord's  appointment,  thrust  them 
and  all  their  country  folks  out  of  the  queen's  lodgings,  and 
locked  the  doors  after  them."^  In  spite  of  the  indignation  of 
the  queen,  the  wrath  of  the  French  ambassador,  and  the 
remonstrances  of  the  French  bishop,  all  the  members  of  the 


nenrietta  maria  was  irequentiy  ai  csi.  jamess  raiace, 
and  there  three  of  her  children,  Charles  L,  James  IL,  and 
Mary,  Princess  of  Orange,  were  born.  In  1639  she 
fitted  up  the  palace  with  much  care  and  splendour  for  the 
reception  of  her  mother,  the  Queen-Dowager  of  France. 
Marie  di  Medici  arrived  at  the  palace,  accompanied  by  King 
Charles,  and  was  greeted  in  the  courtyard  by  the  Queen  of 
England,  surrounded  by  all  her  children-and  many  ladies. 

*  Birch  :  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  /.,  i.,  119-120. 
2  Ibid.,  i.,  122. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  257 

She  maintained  a  miniature  Court  at  St.  James's,  having  at 
least  two  hundred  servants  ;  she  was  intensely  unpopular 
in  England,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  the  Parliament  voted 
her  a  large  sum  of  money  on  the  one  and  express  condition 
that  she  left  England  at  once.  The  country  was  then  on 
the  verge  of  the  outbreak  of  civil  war,  and  the  Court  left 
London  early  in  the  year  1642,  so  that  little  is  known  of 
St.  James's  at  this  time.  It  naturally  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Parliamentarians,  who  were  supreme  in  London,  and 
many  of  its  treasures — pictures,  statues,  medals,  and  books — 
were  stolen  or  sold  to  raise  money.  Thus  dismantled,  the 
palace  served  for  two  purposes — for  barracks  and  for  a 
prison.  Among  the  earliest  prisoners  were  two  of  the 
king's  children,  the  Princess  Elizabeth  and  the  Duke  ot 
Gloucester.  In  1645  they  were  placed  in  the  kindly  care 
of  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Northumberland,  who  received 
the  large  grant  for  their  maintenance  that  had  been  voted 
by  Parliament  ever  since  their  first  imprisonment.  They 
were  joined  in  captivity  at  St.  James's  by  their  elder  brother, 
the  Duke  of  York,  who  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  his 
father's  enemies  after  the  surrender  of  Oxford.  Very  quickly, 
however,  the  royalists  in  London  effected  his  escape.  The 
plot  was  laid  by  Colonel  Bamfield  and  Anne  Murray,  after- 
wards Lady  Halkett,  who  has  left  a  graphic  description  of  the 
duke's  escape.  The  first  point  was  to  provide  a  disguise  ; 
Lady  Halkett  asked  the  colonel  "  to  take  a  ribban  with  him 
and  bring  mee  the  bignese  of  the  Duke's  wast  and  his  lengh, 
to  have  cloaths  made  fitt  for  him.  In  the  meane  time  C.  B. 
was  to  provide  mony  for  all  nesesary  expence,  w  was 
furnished  by  an  honest  cittisen.  When  I  gave  the  measure 
to  my  tailor  to  inquire  how  much  mohaire  would  serve  to  make 
a  petticoatc  and  wastcoatc  to  a  young  gentlewoman  of  that 
R.P.  S 


258      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


bignese  and  stature,  hee  considered  itt  a  long  time,  and  said 
hee  had  made  many  gownes  and  suites,  butt  hee  had  never 
made  any  to  such  a  person  in  his  life.  I  thought  hee  was  in 
right ;  butt  his  meaning  was,  hee  had  never  seene  any  woman 
of  so  low  a  stature  have  so  big  a  wast ;  however  hee  made  itt 
as  exactly  fitt  as  if  hee  had  taken  the  measure  himselfe.  Itt 
was  a  mixed  mohaire  of  a  light  haire  couler  and  blacke,  and 
y*"  under  petticoate  was  scarlett."  ^  The  tailor  was  both  shrewd 
and  trustworthy,  and  everything  was  ready  by  the  evening  of 
April  20  for  the  attempt.  Lady  Halkett  describes  hov/ 
"  itt  was  designed  for  a  week  before  every  night  as  soon  as 
y^  Duke  had  suped  hee  and  those  servants  that  attended  his 
Highnese  (till  the  Earle  of  Northumberland  and  y^  rest  of 
the  howse  had  suped)  wentt  to  a  play  called  hide  and  seek, 
and  sometimes  hee  would  hide  himselfe  so  well  that  in  halfe 
an  howers  time  they  could  not  find  him.  His  Highnese  had 
so  used  them  to  this,  that  when  hee  wentt  really  away  they 
thought  hee  was  butt  att  the  usuall  sport."  ^  The  ruse  was 
completely  successful,  and  the  Duke  of  York  slipped  through 
a  side  gate  from  the  palace  garden  into  the  park,  opening  it 
with  a  key  which  Colonel  Bamfield  had  obtained  from 
one  of  the  gardeners,  presumably  by  bribery.  Once  in  the 
park,  he  found  the  colonel  waiting  for  him  with  a  cloak 
and  periwig,  and  they  drove  off  in  a  coach  to  a  house  near 
the  waterside.  There  waited  Lady  Halkett  and  her  maid 
Miriam,  ready  with  the  more  complete  disguise  she  had 
prepared.  The  boy  put  on  the  girl's  dress,  "  w'^'"  fitted  his 
Highnesse  very  well,  and  was  very  pretty  in  it,"  and  she  sent 
him  off  with  a  Wood  Stree  cake  to  accomplish  the  rest  of 
his  journey.      The  escape   of  the  Duke  of  York  was  not 

1  Autobiography  of  Anne,  L%dy  Halkett  (Camden  Soc),  P-  20-1. 

2  Ibid., p.  21. 


y. 


y. 

3  ■< 


-^  -^ 


X 


X 


..■^■Tw   -^n 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  259 

discovered  at  St.  James's  at  once,  and  afterwards  much  time 
was  spent  in  a  useless  search  through  the  palace,  so  that  he 
reached  the  coast  in  safety  and  crossed  the  Channel  to 
Holland,  where  he  was  welcomed  by  his  sister,  the  Princess 
of  Orange. 

Several  of  the  "secluded  members"  were  afterwards 
imprisoned  in  St.  James's,  and  on  January  ig,  1649,  the 
most  illustrious  prisoner  of  all  arrived  at  the  palace.  The 
king  was  brought  from  Carisbrooke  by  gradual  stages  to 
London  for  his  trial ;  with  his  guard,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Harrison,  he  passed  through  "  Brainford,  Hammer- 
smith, and  the  direct  way  to  his  Majesty's  House  at  St. 
James's,  where  his  Chamber  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Kinnersly, 
his  Servant,  strict  Guards  placed,  and  none  suffer'd  to  attend 
in  his  Majesty's  Bed-Chamber,  save  Mr.  Herbert.  Neverthe- 
less, his  usual  Diet  was  kept  up  and  the  Gentlemen  that 
formerly  waited  were  permitted  to  perform  their  respective 
Services  in  the  Presence,  where  a  State  was  placed,  and 
for  a  few  Days  all  things  with  Decency  and  Honour 
observed."  ^  On  the  day  of  the  king's  arrival  in  London 
he  only  spent  a  short  time  in  the  palace,  being  afterwards 
taken  to  Whitehall,  where  he  passed  the  night.  It  is  pro- 
bable, however,  that  during  the  trial  he  was  lodged,  at  least 
on  several  nights,  in  St.  James's,  whither  he  undoubtedly 
returned  on  the  Saturday,  after  the  sentence  of  death  had 
been  pronounced.  The  prisoner  had  at  first  been  treated 
with  the  usual  ceremony,  but  on  his  return  to  St.  James's  no 
such  observances  were  offered  him,  and,  rather  than  submit 
to  this  change  in  public,  he  dined  in  his  own  apartment  in 
the  palace.     For  the  remaining  days  of  his  life,  "  his  whole 

•  Herbert :    Memoirs  of   the  Two  Last  Years  of    the  Reign  of   Kvig 
Charles  I.,  ed.  1813,  p.  152. 

S    2 


26o      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


business  was  a  serious  Preparation  for  Death,  which  opens 

the  Door  unto  Eternity;"^  and  at  his  own  request  Dr.  Juxon, 

the  Bishop  of  London,  was  allowed  to  be  with  him,  but  he 

refused  to  see  the  various  London  ministers  who  offered  to 

come  to  him.    "  The  king,"  however,  "  return'd  them  Thanks 

for  their  Love  to  his  Soul,  hoping  that  they,  and  all  other  of 

his  good  Subjects,  would  in  their  Addresses  to  God,  be  mindful 

of  him."  ^     None  of  his  faithful  adherents  were  allowed  access 

to  their  king,  but  on  Monday,  January  29,  the  day  before  his 

execution,  his  two  children,  who  were  then  prisoners  at  Sion 

House,  were  brought  to  the  palace  to  take  farewell  of  their 

father.     They  were  the  only  members  of  the  royal  family  left 

in  England,  and  the  parting  was  indeed  pitiful.     The  little 

Princess  Elizabeth  and  the  king  were  especially  devoted  to 

one  another,  and  she  was  old  enough  to  realise  the  tragedy 

that  was  to  befall  them  on  the  morrow.     She  wept  and  fell 

on  her  knees  on  coming  into  his  presence,  and  the  Duke  of 

Gloucester  joined  with  her,  though  too  young  to  understand 

the  full  meaning  of  the  parting.     "  The  King  rais'd  them 

both  from  off  their  Knees  ;  he  kiss'd  them,  gave  them  his 

Blessing,  and  setting  them  on  his  Knees,  admonish'd  them 

concerning  their  Duty  and  Loyal  Observance  to  the  Queen 

their   Mother,  the  Prince  that  was  his  successor,  Love  to 

the    Duke   of  York,  and  his  other  Relations."^      Princess 

Elizabeth  has  left  a  most  pathetic  description  of  the  scene : 

"  He  told  me  he  was  glad  I  had  come,  for  although  he  had 

not  time  to  say  much  yet  somewhat  he  wished  to  say  to  Me, 

which  he  had  not  to  another,  or  leave  in  writing.     Because 

he  feared  their  Cruelty  was  such,  as  that  they  would  not  have 

»  Herbert,  op.  cit.,  p.  169. 
2  Ibid.,  171-2. 
8  Ibid.,  179. 


ST.  JAMI-:S'S    PALACr:  -Gi 

permitted  him  to  write  to  me.  Hee  wished  me  not  to  greeve 
and  torment  my  selfc  for  him  ;  for  that  would  be  a  glorious 
death  that  he  should  dye;  it  being  for  the  Laws  and  Liberties 
of  this  Land,  and  for  Maintaining  the  true  Protestant  Religion. 
He  bid  me  read  Bishop  Andrews'  Sermons,  Hookers  Eccle- 
siasticall  Policie,  and  Bishop  Lauds  Book  against  Fisher, 
which  would  ground  me  against  Popery.  He  told  me  he 
had  forgiven  all  his  Enemies,  and  hoped  God  would  forgive 
them  also ;  And  commanded  us,  and  all  the  rest  of  my  Brothers 
and  Sisters  to  forgive  them  :  hee  bid  me  tell  my  Mother,  That 
his  thoughts  had  never  straied  from  her,  and  that  his  Love 
should  be  the  same  to  the  last.  Withall  he  commanded  me 
and  my  brother  to  be  obedient  to  Her  .  .  ."  ^  The  king 
warned  the  little  Duke  of  Gloucester  never  to  let  himself  be 
made  king  while  his  elder  brothers  were  alive,  and  the  boy 
promised  him,  saying  "I  will  be  torn  in  peeces  first."  ^ 
A  similar  message  was  given  to  the  princess  for  the  Duke  of 
York,  and  then  the  children  bade  their  father  farewell.  "  Most 
sorrowful  was  this  Parting,  the  young  Princess  shedding  Tears 
and  crying  lamentably,  so  as  mov'd  others  to  Pity,  that 
formerly  were  hard-hearted  ;  and  at  opening  Bed-Chamber 
Door,  the  King  return'd  hastily  from  the  Window  and  kiss'd 
'em  and  bless'd 'em  ;  so  parted."^  The  king  gave  the  princess 
his  pocket  Bible,  and  distributed  his  remaining  possessions 
amongst  his  children  and  friends.  The  rest  of  the  day 
Charles  spent  partly  with  the  bishop,  who  did  not  leave  till 
late,  and  partly  alone  in  prayer  and  devotion.     In  the  night 

'  Brit.  Mus.  Single  Sheets,  March  ii — November  26,  1649:  Another 
Relation  from  the  Lady  Elizabeths  oicn  hand. 

'  Ibid.,  A  True  Relation  of  the  King's  Speech  to  the  Lady  Elizabeth  and  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  the  day  before  his  Death. 

*  Herbert,  op.  a'/.,  p.  1 79-1  So. 


262      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


he  slept  soundly  for  some  hours,  with  Herbert  lying  on  a 
pallet  by  his  side.  He  awoke  before  daybreak  and  roused 
his  attendant,  "  for "  (said  his  Majesty)  "  I  will  get  up, 
having  a  great  Work  to  do  this  Day,  .  .  ."  ^  Herbert  found 
the  king  more  than  usually  particular  about  his  toilet,  for  he 
said,  "  this  is  my  Second  Marriage-Day.  I  would  be  as  trim 
to-day  as  may  be  ;  for  before  Night  I  hope  to  be  espoused  to 
my  blessed  Jesus."  ^  He  insisted  on  wearing  an  extra  shirt, 
"  by  reason  the  season  is  so  sharp  as  probably  may  make  me 
shake,  which  some  Observers  will  imagine  proceeds  from 
fear.  I  would  have  no  such  Imputation.  I  fear  not  Death  ! 
Death  is  not  terrible  to  me.  I  bless  my  God  I  am  prepared."  ^ 
The  rest  of  the  morning  Charles  spent  with  Dr.  Juxon  and 
received  the  Communion.  He  was  summoned  during  the 
morning  by  Colonel  Hacker  to  leave  the  palace  for  Whitehall, 
where  the  scaffold  had  been  erected.  Walking  through  the 
palace  garden,  he  stopped  as  he  reached  the  park,  and,  after 
asking  Herbert  the  time,  presented  him  with  the  silver  clock 
that  his  attendant  carried  with  him.  "  The  Park  had  several 
Companies  of  Foot  drawn  up,  who  made  a  Guard  on  either 
side  as  the  King  passed,  and  a  Guard  of  Halberdiers  in  com- 
pany went  some  before,  and  other  some  followed ;  the  Drums 
beat,  and  the  Noise  was  so  great  one  could  hardly  hear  what 
another  spoke.  Upon  the  King's  Right-Hand  went  the  Bishop, 
and  Colonel  Tomlinson  on  his  left,  with  whom  his  Majesty 
had  some  Discourse  by  the  way ;  Mr.  Herbert  was  next  the 
King ;  after  him  the  Guards."  *  So  the  procession  passed  from 
St.  James's.    The  history  of  the  execution  belongs  to  White- 

1  Herbert,  op.  cif.,  p.  184. 

2  Ibid. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  184-185. 
^  Ibid.^  p.  191. 


vST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  263 

hall,  but  when  all  was  over  the  body  of  the  king  was  brouj:;ht 
back  to  St.  James's,  "  where  was  great  pressing  by  all  sorts  of 
People  to  see  the  King,  or  where  he  was :  A  doleful  Spectacle  ! 
but  few  had  leave  to  enter  and  behold  it."  ^  Amongst  those 
who  came  to  behold  the  body  of  the  king,  Cromwell,  according 
to  tradition,  must  be  included.  The  coffin  remained  at  St. 
James's  until  February  8,  when  the  Council  at  last  decided 
that  the  king  was  to  be  buried  in  St.  George's  Chapel  at 
Windsor.  "Accordingly  the  Corps  was  thither  carried 
from  St.  James's  in  a  Hearse  covered  with  black  Velvet, 
drawn  by  Six  Horses  also  cover'd  with  black;  after  which 
Four  Coaches  followed,  two  of  them  likewise  covered  with 
black  Cloth,  in  which  were  about  a  Dozen  Gentlemen 
and  others,  most  of  them  being  such  as  had  waited  on  his 
Majesty  at  Carisbrook-Castle  and  other  places,  since  his 
Majesty's  going  from  New-Castle,  all  of  them  being  in 
black."  2 

The  palace  was  granted  to  Cromwell  when  he  became 
Lord  Protector,  but  he  never  lived  there,  and  during  the 
Commonwealth  it  was  mainly  used  as  barracks.  General 
Monk,  however,  had  lodgings  at  St.  James's,  and  there  he 
matured  his  plans  for  the  restoration  of  Charles  H.  The 
new  king  rarely  lived  in  the  palace,  but  the  building  was 
improved  and  it  again  became  the  residence  of  the  heir  to 
the  throne.  James,  Duke  of  York,  lived  there  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  brother's  reign  and  held  a  small  and 
separate  Court,  which  was  said  to  be  more  dignified  and 
stately  than  the  Court  of  Whitehall.  At  St.  James's  his 
many  children  were  born,  but  only  the  Princesses  Mary  and 
Anne,  who  both  afterwards  ascended  the  throne,  and  Prince 

•  Herbert,  op.  a'f.,  p.  195. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  199. 


264      ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

James  Edward  survived  beyond  infancy  or  early  childhood. 
The  Roman  Catholic  chapel  was  restored  by  Charles  IL 
for  Queen  Catherine  of  Braganza.  The  services  and  music 
of  the  queen's  chapel  were  a  source  of  much  curiosity  to  the 
Englishmen  of  the  Court.  Pepys  went  there  many  times, 
and  also  visited  the  Capuchin  friary  which  was  established 
at  St.  James's.  The  Park  filled  an  important  part  in  the  life 
of  the  Court  and  owed  much  of  its  beauty  to  Charles  IL 
He  walked  there  daily,  often  unattended,  feeding  the  fowls  or 
playing  with  his  dogs,  and  this  indolent  amusement  "  made 
the  common  People  adore  him,  and  consequently  overlook  in 
him  what,  in  a  Prince  of  a  different  Temper,  they  might  have 
been  out  of  humour  at."  ^  In  1677  Princess  Mary,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  York,  was  married  at  St.  James's  to 
the  Prince  of  Orange.  She  seems  to  have  been  a  most 
unwiUing  bride.  "  The  Duke  of  York  din'd  at  Whitehall ; 
after  dinner  returned  to  Saint  James',  took  Lady  Mary  into 
her  closet,  and  told  her  of  the  marriage  designed  between 
her  and  the  Prince  of  Orange  ;  whereupon  her  highness  wept 
all  that  afternoon  and  the  following  day."^  The  day  after, 
October  22,  the  Council  "at  5  o'clock  came  to  St.  James' 
to  compliment  her  highnesse,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Finch 
making  a  short  congratulatory  speech."  ^  The  marriage  took 
place  in  the  princess's  bed-chamber  on  November  4,  at  nine 
o'clock,  the  king  giving  her  away  in  great  spirits.  There 
was  much  rejoicing  in  the  city,  but  Mary  was  still  as 
unreconciled  as  ever  to  leaving  her  own  country.  Princess 
Anne  was  ill  with  smallpox  at  the  palace,  and  this  naturally 
added  to  the  grief  of  her  sister,  who  was  forced  to  be  content 

^  Apology  for  the  Life  of  Mr.  Colley  Cibber,  ed.  1889,  i.,  30. 

2  Diary  of  Dr.  Edward  Lake  (Camden  Soc),  p.  5. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  5-6, 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  265 

with  leaving  two  letters  of  farewell.  Mar}'  still  wept  when 
she  embarked  from  Whitehall,  and  was  little  comforted  by 
the  consolations  offered  by  Queen  Catherine. 

Mary  of  Modcna  was  particularly  attached  to  St.  James's 
Palace,  although  James  II.  preferred  Whitehall  and  held  his 
Court  there  after  his  accession.  Queen  Mary  moved  to  St. 
James's  before  the  birth  of  Prince  James  Edward.  The 
prince  was  born  on  June  10,  1688,  and  there  was  great 
rejoicing  in  the  palace.  "  The  news  of  the  Prince's  birth 
on  Sunday  last  was  dispersed  by  extraordinary  posts  into  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  great  has  been  the  publick  joy  of 
this  place  on  so  solemn  an  occasion.  The  infant  prince  was 
on  Monday  somewhat  indisposed,  but  is  now  well,  and  a 
great  crowd  of  ladies  flock  to  St.  James's  daily  to  see  him."  ^ 
He  was  born  at  an  inauspicious  time,  when  the  kingdom  was 
seething  with  discontent  at  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the 
king,  and  the  birth  of  an  heir  to  the  throne,  certain  to  be 
brought  up  in  his  father's  religion,  urged  on  the  Whigs  to 
rebellion.  All  sorts  of  stories  were  spread,  that  the  child 
was  not  the  son  of  the  queen,  the  most  well  known  being 
that  a  child  had  been  carried  into  the  queen's  bed-chamber 
concealed  in  a  warming-pan,  and  was  then  passed  off  as  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  There  was  no  truth  in  the  stories,  but 
they  were  believed  all  over  England  at  the  time,  and  earned 
for  the  prince  his  best-known  title,  "  the  Old  Pretender," 
The  clouds  thickened  over  the  Court  of  James  II.,  and  the 
rumours  of  the  coming  of  the  Prince  ot  Orange  became  more 
and  more  insistent.  The  little  Prince  of  Wales  was  carried 
from  St.  James's  to  Portsmouth,  to  remove  him  from  danger. 
Before   he   actually    left    England  with  the  queen    he  was 

'  Hist.  MSS.  Cow.  Rep.,  xii.,  App.  5,  p.  119. 


266      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


again  brought  back  to    London,  but   the  final  escape  was 
made  from    Whitehall.     The  Prince  of    Orange  landed  in 
the  west  of  England,  where  he  met  with  constant  success;  his 
father-in-law  was  deserted  by  one  supporter  after  another, 
and  finally  determined  on  flight.     His  first  attempt  failed,  for 
he  was  turned  back  at  Faversham.    He  sent  Lord  Feversham 
to  the  prince,  inviting  him  to  come  to  St.  James's  Palace, 
but  the  messenger  received  rough  treatment  and  was  made 
prisoner.      The    Prince  of  Orange  finally  agreed    to  enter 
London,  but  only  on  condition  that  the  king  should  with- 
draw once  more  from  Whitehall.     "The  Prince  comes  to 
St.   James's,    and    fills   Whitehall   with    Dutch   guards.     A 
Council  of  Peers  meet  about  an  expedient  to  call  a  Parlia- 
ment ;  adjourn  to  the  House  of  Lords  .  .  .  All  the  world 
goes  to  see  the  Prince  at  St.  James's,  where  there  is  a  great 
Court.    There  I  saw  him,  and  several  of  my  acquaintance  who 
came  over  with  him.     He  is  very  stately,  serious,  and  reserved. 
The  English  soldiers  sent  out  of  town  to  disband  them ;  not 
well  pleased."  ^     Such  is  Evelyn's  short  account  of  the  arrival 
of  the  prince ;  Sir  John  Reresby  gives  a  few  more  details. 
"  Then  the  prince  came  to  St.  James's,  where  he  was  compli- 
mented and  attended  by  a  great  many  of  the  nobility ;  and 
the  night  was  spent  in  ringing  of  bells,  bonfires  and  other 
expressions  of  joy  by  the  rabble ;  but  thinking  men  of  the 
City  seemed  displeased  at  the  King  being  forced  to  withdraw 
himself  a  second  time."  ^     The  Prince  of  Orange  remained  at 
St.  James's  during  the  negotiations  that  followed  his  arrival, 
until  the  crown  was  finally  offered  jointly  to  him  and  to  the 
Princess  of  Orange  at  Whitehall.     William  spent  little  of 


'  Evelyn  :  Diary,  December  13,  1688. 

^  Memoirs  0/  Sir  John  Reresby  (1878),  p.  425. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  267 

his  reign  in  London,  but  after  the  fire  at  Whitehall  in   1698 
St.  James's  was  used  on  State  occasions. 

With  the  accession  of  Queen  Anne,  St.  James's  Palace 
became  the  official  residence  of  the  English  Court,  and  it  was 
also  the  scene  of  some  of  the  chief  events  in  the  life  of  the 
new  queen.  She  had  not  been  in  cordial  relations  with 
William  and  Mary,  but  the  king  made  overtures  to  her,  after 
her  sister's  death,  and  she  and  her  husband  took  up  their 
residence  at  St.  James's.  Her  son,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
the  only  one  of  her  many  children  who  survived  infancy,  died 
there  in  1700,  on  the  day  after  his  eleventh  birthday.  Two 
years  later  William  IIL  died,  and  the  Princess  of  Denmark 
succeeded  him.  Burnet,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  rushed  to 
St.  James's  Palace  to  acquaint  her  with  the  news  "  as  soon 
as  the  breath  was  out  of  King  William."  The  change  of 
sovereign  made  a  great  difference  at  Court,  since  Queen 
Anne  spent  much  of  her  time  either  at  Kensington  or  St. 
James's.  Although  the  real  power  at  Court  lay  successively 
in  the  hands  of  her  favourites,  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough 
and  Mrs.  Masham,  the  queen  herself  was  strict  in  matters 
of  ceremonial  and  etiquette.  Lord  Chesterfield  describes 
her  Court  as  dull.  ''Her  Drawing  Rooms  were  more  respect- 
able than  agreeable,  and  had  more  of  the  air  of  solemn 
places  of  worship  than  the  gaiety  of  a  Court."  ^  Among  the 
many  favours  that  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  received  at  the 
hands  of  Anne  during  the  supremacy  of  the  duchess,  one  of 
the  most  important  was  the  grant  of  a  piece  of  land  in  the 
precincts  of  the  palace,  on  which  Marlborough  House  was 
built.  The  Union  of  England  and  Scotland,  one  of  the 
greatest  events  of  the  reign,  was  completed  at  St.  James's. 

'  Cit.,  Stanhope :  History  of  England,  1701-1713,  p.  566. 


268      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

The  Earl  of  Mar,  one  of  the  Scottish  commissioners, 
described  the  final  ceremony  that  took  place  on  July  25, 
1706.  "  You  cannot  immagine  how  agreeable  it  was  to  every 
body  here  our  concluding  the  Treatie  and  delivering  of  it  to 
the  Queen,  which  was  done  very  solemnlie.  She  summond 
us  to  meet  at  the  Council  chamber  at  St.  James.  We 
walkt  throw  the  rooms  from  that  to  the  room  her  Majesty 
was  in  to  receave  us,  where  were  all  the  ladys  and  the  court 
and  forrayine  imbassdors.  One  of  us  and  one  of  the 
English  walkt  togither,  and  so  on  ;  we  on  the  left  hand  as 
we  walkt  but  we  were  on  the  Queen's  right  hand.  The 
Keeper  and  our  Chancellor  made  a  speech  when  they  delivered 
the  books,  and  then  the  Queen  made  a  speech  to  us.  People 
in  the  city  were  beginning  to  wager  on  the  Union's  pro- 
ceeding or  not,  but  the  odds  went  on  the  first.  This  was 
thought  undecent,  therfore  it  is  discharg'd."  ^  In  1708  the 
Prince  of  Denmark  died  at  Kensington  Palace,  and  about 
two  hours  afterwards  the  queen,  urged  by  the  Duchess  of 
Marlborough,  drove  to  St.  James's.  Even  at  such  a  time 
the  rivalry  between  the  duchess  and  Mrs.  Masham  was  not 
dropped  for  a  moment.  "  When  we  came  to  St.  James's,  I 
carried  her  privately  through  my  lodging  into  her  green  closet, 
and  gave  her  a  cup  of  broth,  and  afterwards  she  eat  a  very 
good  dinner,  and  at  night  I  found  her  at  a  table  again,  where 
she  had  been  eating,  and  Mrs.  Masham  very  close  to  her, 
who  went  out  of  the  room  as  soon  as  I  came  in,  but  with  an 
air  of  insolence  and  anger,  and  not  in  the  humble  manner  she 
had  sometimes  affected  of  bedchamber  woman."  ^  During 
the  queen's  last  illness,  which  took  place  at  Kensington,  the 
Whigs  won  their  final  victory.     The  accession  of  George  I. 

1  Mar  and  Kellie  MSS.,  p.  271  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.). 

'■^  Private  Correspondence  of  Sarah  Duchess  0/  Marlborough,  i.,  415. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  269 

was  assured,  and  two  days  after  his  arrival  in  England  he 
was  conducted  with  great  ceremony  to  St.  James's  Palace, 
and  took  up  his  residence  there,  keeping  but  little  state.  He 
was  joined  for  a  short  time  by  the  Prince  and  Princess  of 
Wales,  and  the  manner  and  appearance  of  the  new  royal 
family  and  their  German  attendants  were  of  course  unpopular. 
"  The  Princess  came  in  a  chariot  to  St.  James's  at  five  this 
evening,  with  four  or  five  coaches  and  some  guards,  the  women 
were  rendered  very  disagreeable  by  their  headdress  such  as  I 
never  saw,  sort  of  night  clothes."  ^  Her  arrival  in  London 
was  thus  described  by  Richard  Barrett,  but  he  had  the  grace 
to  add  that  the  princess's  children  were  "  the  finest."  A 
French  visitor  to  England  has  left  an  interesting  description 
of  the  Hanoverian  Court  towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of 
George  L  "  On  the  Sunday  following  my  arrival  a  friend 
asked  me  to  accompany  him  to  Court,  and  at  mid-day  we 
went  together  to  St.  James's  Palace  .  .  .  Knowing  there 
was  a  gallery  leading  to  the  chapel  thro'  which  the  Court 
must  pass,  we  posted  ourselves  on  it,  and  had  not  long  to 
wait.  Six  Yeomen  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  procession  ; 
they  reminded  me  much  of  the  Swiss  Guard  at  Versailles, 
being  dressed  in  the  same  quaint  fashion.  They  carried 
halberds  on  their  shoulders,  and  walked  two  and  two. 
These  Yeomen  were  followed  by  several  gentlemen  of  the 
Court,  by  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  the  King's  chamberlain,  and 
by  the  Duke  of  Dorset,  Master  of  the  King's  Household, 
each  carrying  a  long  white  wand  of  office.  Two  sergeants- 
at-arms,  or  mace-bearers  followed,  carrying  their  maces  on 
their  shoulders,  these  being  of  silver-gilt,  surmounted  by 
crowns  of  the  same  precious  metal.      A  nobleman  of  the 

^  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.,  xiii.,  App.  4,  p.  367. 


270      ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

Court  followed,  carrying  the  sword  of  state.  This  weapon  is 
very  long  and  broad  ;  the  scabbard  is  of  crimson  velvet,  the 
hilt  of  massive  gold,  enriched  with  some  precious  stones. 
The  King  then  appeared,  followed  by  the  three  young 
Princesses  who  reside  with  him  in  the  Palace ;  they  are  the 
Prince  of  Wales's  three  eldest  daughters.  Each  of  these 
young  Princesses  was  escorted  by  her  squire,  the  train  of  her 
dress  being  carried  by  pages.  About  ten  Gentlemen  Pen- 
sioners closed  the  march.  These  gentlemen  compose  the 
King's  special  bodyguard,  and  consist  of  about  forty  persons 
with  their  officers  ;  their  dress  is  of  scarlet,  with  braidings 
and  lacings  of  gold.  They  carry  small  axes  or  halberds, 
covered  with  crimson  velvet,  and  ornamented  with  big  silver- 
gilt  nails.  They  mount  guard  on  Sundays  and  on  certain 
weekdays,  only  half  their  number  being  habitually  on  duty. 
These  places  can  be  purchased,  and  bring  in  about  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling.  I  was  surprised  to  see  every  one 
making  a  profound  reverence  or  bow  as  the  King  went  by, 
which  he  in  his  turn  acknowledged  by  a  slight  inclination  of 
the  head.  The  English  do  not  consider  their  King  to  be  so  very 
much  above  them  that  they  dare  not  salute  him,  as  in  France ; 
they  respect  him  and  are  faithful  to  him,  and  often  sincerely 
attached  to  him.  I  speak,  of  course,  of  those  who  favour 
the  reigning  family,  for  there  are  in  England  many  different 
political  parties.  ...  At  about  two  o'clock  we  returned  to 
the  chamber  called  the  circle  or  drawing-room,  and  found  it 
already  filled  with  ladies  and  gentlemen.  On  leaving  chapel 
the  King  appeared  with  the  three  young  Princesses  ;  he  was 
immediately  surrounded  ,by  a  circle  of  persons  all  standing 
up,  there  being  no  chairs  in  the  room  lest  any  one  should  be 
guilty  of  seating  themselves.  The  King  went  to  the  end  of 
the  room  and  talked  with  the  foreign  ministers  for  a  few 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  271 

minutes.  Three  ladies  were  then  presented  to  His  Majesty; 
he  kissed  them  all  affectionately  on  the  lips.  .  .  .  The 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales  arrived  soon  after  the  King  ;  I 
was  surprised  at  this,  for  I  know  that  the  King  and  the 
Prince  his  son  are  not  on  good  terms.  The  Prince  and 
Princess  together  with  Prince  William,  their  youngest  son, 
and  the  two  youngest  Princesses,  live  in  a  mansion  belonging 
to  Lord  Leicester,  and  which  they  rent  from  him.  As  soon 
as  the  Princess  of  Wales  entered  the  drawing-room  the  King 
went  to  greet  her,  treated  her  most  graciously,  and  conversed 
with  her  for  some  time,  but  he  did  not  speak  to  the  Prince, 
and  even  avoided  going  near  him."  ^  The  quarrel  between 
the  king  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  here  referred  to  lasted 
throughout  the  reign  of  George  L  Its  actual  origin  is  not 
known  exactly,  but  it  broke  out  seriously,  when  the  question 
of  the  regency  was  mooted,  on  the  king's  going  to  Hanover. 
The  prince  was  excluded  from  the  regency  and  the  quarrel 
grew  gradually  worse,  until  the  final  point  was  reached  at 
the  christening  of  Prince  George  William,  the  son  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  at  St.  James's  Palace.  Horace  Walpole 
obtained  a  description  of  the  scene  from  Lady  Suffolk.  "  The 
exordium  thus  duly  prepared,  you  must  suppose,  ladies,  that 
the  second  act  opens  with  a  royal  christening.  The  Princess 
of  Wales  had  been  delivered  [1717]  of  a  second  son.  The 
prince  had  intended  his  uncle,  the  Duke  of  York,  Bishop  of 
Osnaburg,  should  with  his  Majesty  be  godfathers.  Nothing 
could  equal  the  indignation  of  his  Royal  Highness  when  the 
King  named  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  for  second  sponsor,  and 
would  hear  of  no  other.  The  christening  took  place  as 
usual  in  the   Princess  bed-chamber.     Lady  Suffolk,  then  in 

*  De  Saussure  :  A  Foreign  View  of  England  in  the  Reigns  of  George  I. 
and  George  11.,  ed.  1902,  pp.  38-44. 


272      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 


waiting  as  woman  of  the  bed-chamber,  and  of  most  accurate 
memory,   painted   the  scene  to  me  exactly.     On   one   side 
of  the  bed  stood  the  godfathers   and   godmother ;    on  the 
other  the  Prince   and    Princess's   ladies.      No    sooner  had 
the  Bishop  closed  the  ceremony,  than  the  Prince,  crossing 
the  feet  of  the  bed  in  a  rage,  stepped  up  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  and,  holding   up   his   hand   and  forefinger  in  a 
menacing  attitude,  said  '  You  are  a  rascal,  but  I  shall  find 
you ; '    meaning,  in    broken    English,   *  I  shall  find  a  time 
to  be  revenged'."^     The  prince  was  put  under  arrest,  but 
after    inquiries    conducted    by   the    Dukes   of    Roxburghe, 
Kent,  and  Kingston,  by  order  of  the  king,  he  was  released. 
He  was,  however,  forbidden  to  appear  at  Court  and  was 
ordered  to  leave  his  apartments  at  St.  James's.  This  order  did 
not  include  the  Princess  of  Wales,  but  she  insisted  on  accom- 
panying her  husband,  and  they  departed  immediately  to  the 
house  of  her  chamberlain,  the  Earl  of  Grantham,  in  Albe- 
marle Street.     Afterwards  they  established  their  household 
at  Leicester  House,  which  became  the  centre  of  all  opposi- 
tion to  the  Government.     George  I.  retained  the  custody  of 
the  three  eldest  princesses,  and  in  spite  of  many  attempts  on 
the  part   of  the  princess,   she  was  forbidden  to  see  them. 
The  disgrace  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  further  intensified 
by  its   notification   to   all  the  Courts  of  Europe,  while  in 
England  no  guard  or  mark  of  distinction  was  allowed  him, 
and  all  visitors  at  Leicester  House  were  forbidden  the  king's 
Court  at  St.  James's.     The   quarrel,  having  reached  these 
lengths,  became  a  public  scandal,  and  Walpole  made  great 
efforts  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation.     Lady  Cowper,  the 
princess's  lady-in-waiting,  kept  a  diary  at  this  time,  and  its 

^  Horace  Walpole  :  Letters,  ed.  1891,  i.,  cxvii. 


vST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  273 

pages  are  full  of  the  protracted  negotiations.  Finally  it  was 
agreed  that  the  princess  might  see  her  children  and  with  the 
prince  return  to  live  at  St.  James's,  after  he  had  written  a 
humble  letter  to  the  king.  The  prince  and  princess  did  not 
return  to  the  palace,  neither  side  really  wishing  it,  and  the  recon- 
ciliation was  hollow  in  the  extreme.  Lady  Cowper  describes 
the  first  public  meeting  of  the  king  and  his  son  in  her  diary. 
"  The  King  spoke  not  to  the  Prince  nor  none  of  his  Friends 
but  the  Duchess  of  Shrewsbury,  who  spoke  once  in  vain  ; 
but  the  second  Time  she  said,  whingeing, '  Je  suis  venue.  Sire, 
pour  faire  ma  cour,  et  je  la  veux  faire.'  It  happened  Lady 
Essex  Robartes  was  in  the  Circle  when  our  Folks  came  in,  so 
they  all  kept  at  the  Bottom  of  the  Room,  for  fear  of  her, 
which  made  the  whole  Thing  look  like  two  Armies  drawn  up 
in  Battle  array ;  for  the  King's  Court  was  all  at  the  Top  of  the 
Room,  behind  the  King,  and  the  Prince's  Court  behind  him. 
The  Prince  looked  down,  and  behaved  prodigious  well.  The 
King  cast  an  angry  Look  that  Way  every  now  and  then  ;  and 
One  could  not  help  thinking 't  was  like  a  little  Dog  and  a  Cat — 
whenever  the  Dog  stirs  a  Foot,  the  Cat  sets  up  her  Back,  and 
is  ready  to  fly  at  him.  Such  a  Crowd  was  never  seen,  for  not 
only  Curiosity  but  Interest  had  brought  it  together.  It  had 
been  used  to  keep  the  Drawing-rooms  so  empty  for  some 
Time,  there  was  hardly  six  Women  at  once,  to  show  the  Neces- 
sity of  a  Reconciliation,  and  that  the  People  were  disgusted."^ 
Just  before  George  I.  left  England  for  the  last  time,  Horace 
Walpole  was  taken  as  a  little  boy  to  the  apartments  of  the 
Countess  of  Walsingham,  which  opened  out  of  those  belong- 
ing to  her  aunt  the  Duchess  of  Kendal,  and  was  there 
presented    to   George    I.      Years   afterwards   he   wrote   his 

1  Diary  of  Lady  Cowper,  ed.  1865,  p.  1 51-153. 
R.P.  T 


274      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

impression  of  the  appearance  of  the  old  king  :  "  It  was  that  of 
an  elderly  man,  rather  pale,  and  exactly  like  his  pictures  and 
coins ;  not  tall ;  of  an  aspect  rather  good  than  august ;  with 
a  dark  tie-wig,  a  plain  coat,  waistcoat,  and  breeches  of  snuff- 
coloured  cloth,  with  stockings  of  the  same  colour,  and  a  blue 
ribbon  over  all."  ^  George  I.  died  in  Hanover,  and  the  day 
after  the  news  arrived,  his  son  George  II.  was  proclaimed 
king  ;  "  a  proclamation  was  read  in  the  two  towns  of  West- 
minster and  London.  It  was  done  in  this  fashion :  First 
appeared  a  company  of  Grenadiers  on  horseback,  with  their 
officers  at  their  head,  and  a  band  of  musicians  with  haut- 
boys, fife,  bassoon,  and  trumpets.  Four  Heralds-at-arms 
followed,  magnificently  mounted  and  clad  in  their  coat- 
armour,  a  sort  of  overcoat  on  which  the  arms  of  England  are 
stamped  in  colours.  These  four  heralds  followed  each  other 
in  single  file,  and  on  either  side  of  them  rode  a  sergeant-at- 
arms,  or  mace-bearer,  wearing  a  silver  collar,  in  shape  like 
an  interlaced  double-S.  Eight  men  on  foot  carried  the 
silver-gilt  mace  on  their  shoulders,  and  walked  next  to  the 
sergeant-at-arms.  The  march  was  closed  by  a  company  of 
Horse  Guards,  preceded  by  its  officers  and  by  its  kettledrums 
and  trumpets.  Stopping  in  front  of  St.  James's  Palace,  the 
first  herald  read  a  long  declaration  informing  the  people  of  the 
death  of  George  I.  .  .  .  and  of  the  accession  of  his  only  son, 
King  George  II.,  .  .  .  "^  George  II.,  with  Queen  Caroline, 
had  come  to  London  immediately  on  hearing  the  news  of  his 
father's  death  from  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  "  Crowds  of  people 
acclaimed  them,  and  they  alighted  at  the  palace  of  St.  James, 
where  they  were  met  by  numerous  lords  and  ladies  who  were 
waiting  for  them,  and  who  paid  them  homage  on  their  knees 

^  Horace  Walpole  :  Letters,  ed.  1891,  i.,  xcix. 
^  De  Saussure,  p.  231-2. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  275 

and  kissed  their  hands. "^  "On  the  following  Sunday,  a  recep- 
tion was  held  at  the  Court  of  St.  James's,  the  drawing-room 
or  circle  being  crowded."^  The  accession  of  George  II.  made 
a  great  change  at  Court,  which  was  more  fully  attended 
than  in  his  father's  time,  while  every  corner  of  St.  James's 
Palace  was  in  requisition  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
king  and  queen  with  their  family  and  household.  Queen 
Caroline  departed  from  the  practice  of  the  last  three  reigns, 
when  politics  alone  were  of  interest  in  the  royal  circle,  and 
gathered  together  a  varied  collection  of  men  at  her  levees, 
which  "  were  a  strange  picture  of  the  motley  character  and 
manners  of  a  queen  and  learned  woman.  She  received  com- 
pany while  at  her  toilet ;  prayers,  and  sometimes  a  sermon, 
were  read  ;  learned  men  and  divines  were  intermixed  with 
courtiers  and  ladies  of  the  household :  the  conversation 
turned  upon  metaphysical  subjects,  blended  with  repartees, 
sallies  of  mirth,  and  the  tittle-tattle  of  a  drawing-room."^ 
Lord  Hervey  has  preserved  in  his  Memoirs  a  gossiping 
account  of  the  first  years  of  the  reign  of  George  II.,  and 
from  him  and  from  other  memoirs  much  can  be  learned  of 
the  habits  of  the  Court.  Both  king  and  queen  were  devoted 
card-players.  "The  Queen,  at  St.  James's,  passed  her 
common  evenings  just  as  she  had  done  at  Kensington — that  is, 
in  her  private  apartment  at  quadrille  with  her  lady-in-waiting, 
Mrs.  Schutz  and  Lady  Charlotte  de  Roussie ;  whilst  the 
Princess  Caroline,  Miss  Dives  (one  of  her  maids  of  honour), 
and  Lord  Hervey  played  pools  at  cribbage ;  and  the 
Duke,  Princess  Emily,  and  the  rest  of  the  chance-comers 


^  De  Saussure,  p.  229. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  231. 

*  Coxe  :  Memoirs  0/  Sir  R.  Walpolc,  i.,  274. 

T    2 


276      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

of  the  family  played  at  basset. "  ^  The  king  when  in 
England  played  with  great  regularity,  but,  like  his  father, 
he  preferred  Hanover  to  England  and  spent  much  of  his 
time  there.  The  rest  of  the  royal  family,  however,  remained 
in  England,  and  St.  James's  was  the  scene  of  many  royal 
marriages  both  in  this  and  the  succeeding  reigns.  In  1734  the 
Princess  Royal  married  the  Prince  of  Orange,  the  ceremony 
taking  place  in  the  Lutheran  Chapel,^  and  two  years  later 
Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  received  his  bride,  the  Princess 
Augusta  of  Saxe-Gotha,  at  the  gates  of  the  park  and  led  her 
into  the  palace,  where  he  presented  her  to  the  king  and  queen 
and  the  other  members  of  the  royal  family.  They  were 
married  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  with  much  state,  but  the 
peace  of  the  Court  was  disturbed  as  in  the  preceding  reign 
by  the  quarrel  between  the  king  and  his  eldest  son,  which 
became  still  more  violent  after  the  marriage.  It  seems  to 
have  arisen  before  the  accession  of  George  II.,  since  on 
his  son's  arrival  in  England  in  1727,  the  prince  was  received 
at  St.  James's  with  coolness  by  both  the  king  and 
queen.  He  was  excluded  from  the  regency  in  1732,  and 
after  the  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  over  the  prince's 
demand  for  an  increase  in  his  income,  the  efforts  of  Sir 
Robert  Walpole  alone  prevented  his  expulsion  from  St. 
James's.  This  last  measure  was,  however,  taken  after  the 
birth  of  his  eldest  daughter  in  1737.  "  It  was  not  till  within 
a  month  of  the  time  for  the  event  that  the  Prince  of  Wales 
officially  announced  to  his  father,  on  the  best  possible  autho- 
rity, the  probability  of  the  prospect  of  the  birth  of  a  lineal 
heir   to   the   Throne.      Caroline    appears   at   once  to  have 

'  Lord  Hervey :  Memoirs  of  the  Reign  of  George  II.,  ed.  1884,  iii.,  6-7. 
^  The  old  Roman  Catholic  chapel  had  been  converted  for  the  use  of 
the  German  Protestants  in  London. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  277 

disbelieved  the  announcement.  She  was  so  desirous  of  the 
succession  falhng  to  her  second  son,  William.  Queen 
Caroline  determined  to  be  present  when  the  event  took 
place. 

"  These  suspicions,  of  which  the  Queen  made  no  secret, 
were  of  course  well  known  to  her  son.     He  was  offended  by 
them — offended  that  the  birth  of  the  heir  should  take  place 
in  Hampton  Court  Palace.     Accordingly,  twice  he  brought 
the    Princess  to  London    and   twice   returned  with   her  to 
Hampton  Court.    One  evening  the  Prince  and  Princess,  after 
dining  with  the  King  and  Queen,  took  leave  of  them  for  the 
night  and  w^ithdrew  to  their  apartments.     Tokens  of  a  super- 
vening change  came  on  during  the  night,  and  the  Prince  at 
once  prepared  for  action.     He  ordered  his  coach  to  be  got 
ready  and  brought  round  to  a  side  entrance  of  the  Palace. 
The  lights  were  extinguished,  and  the  coach  set  off  for  St. 
James'  Palace."  ^     On  their  arrival,  nothing  was  prepared  for 
the  princess,  and  "  no  sheets  being  to  be  come  at,  Her  Royal 
Highness  was  put  to  bed  between  two  table  cloths."     Less 
than  an  hour  later,   "  At  a  quarter  before  eleven  she  was 
delivered  of  a  little  rat  of  a  girl,  about  the  bigness  of  a  good 
large  toothpick  case."  ^    The  queen  did  not  hear  of  the  depar- 
ture of  the  prince  and  princess  at  once,  but  when  the  news  was 
brought,  she  started  to  follow  them,  reaching  St.  James's  at 
four  in  the  morning.     She  saw  the  princess  and  the  child, 
but  did  not  exchange  a  word  with  the  prince.     On  leaving 
the  palace  he  "  gave  her  his  hand,  and  led  her  into  the  street 
to  her  coach,  still  dumb  ;  but  a  crowd  being  assembled  at 
the  gate,  he  kneeled  down  in  the  dirt  and  humbly  kissed  her 
Majesty's  hand.      Her  indignation   must   have  shrunk  into 

*  Lord  Hervey  :  Memoirs,  iii.,  167-8. 

^  Cit.,  Sheppard  :  Memorials  0/ St.  James's  Palace,  ii.,  19-20. 


278      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

contempt."  On  her  return  to  Hampton  Court  she  found 
two  letters  from  the  prince,  which  she  had  not  seen  before 
her  hurried  departure,  but  they  in  no  ways  lessened  the 
indignation  of  both  king  and  queen.  George  wrote  to  his 
son,  indignantly,  charging  him  "  with  concealing  from  the 
King  and  Queen  the  condition  of  the  Princess,  with  removing 
her  from  the  place  of  the  King's  residence,  concealing  the 
birth  of  the  young  Princess,  and  again  removing  the  Princess 
and  her  child  from  Hampton  Court.  These  actions,  and  the 
Prince's  conduct  for  a  considerable  time,  compel  the  King  to 
order  him  to  leave  St.  James's  with  all  his  family,  till  he 
withdraws  his  confidence  from  those  by  whose  instigation  he 
is  encouraged  in  such  behaviour."  ^  The  queen  again  visited 
the  Princess  of  Wales  at  St.  James's,  but  so  soon  as  was 
possible  the  prince  and  princess  left  their  apartments  at  the 
palace  and  removed  to  Kew.  Queen  Caroline  died  in  St. 
James's  the  year  following  her  son's  departure.  Throughout 
her  illness  she  was  attended  by  the  king  and  her  children, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  He  and  his 
household  came  to  London,  but  were  sternly  forbidden  not 
only  to  see  the  queen  but  to  come  near  the  palace.  The 
latter  order,  according  to  Lord  Hervey,  was  partially  evaded. 
"  During  this  time  the  Prince's  family  had  by  little  and  little, 
under  pretence  first  of  inquiring  after  the  Queen's  health,  as 
from  the  Prince  or  Princess,  and  afterwards  for  themselves, 
got  into  possession  of  coming  every  day  and  all  daj^  to 
St.  James's.  .  .  .  "^  Queen  Caroline  died  on  November  20, 
1737.  "  About'ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  night  ....  the  Queen 
began  to  rattle  in  the  throat ;  .  .  .  .  All  she  said  before  she 
died,  was,  '  I  have  now  got  an  asthma.     Open  the  window.' 

^  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.,  xv.,  App.  6,  p.  186. 
^  Lord  Hervey  :  Memoirs,  iii.,  324. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  279 

Then  she  said  *  Pray,'  Upon  which  Princess  Emily  began 
to  read  some  prayers,  of  which  she  scarce  heard  ten  words 
before  the  Queen  expired."  ^ 

The  queen's  death  produced  a  great  change  at  St.  James's, 
the  king  being  less  frequently  in  residence.  The  quarrel 
with  the  Prince  of  Wales  never  ceased  till  the  death  of  the 
latter,  but  the  king  was  reconciled  to  the  widowed  Princess 
of  Wales.  "  The  King  and  the  Princess  arc  grown  as  fond  as 
if  they  had  never  been  of  different  parties,  or  rather  as  people 
who  always  had  been  of  different.  She  discountenances  all 
opposition,  and  he  all  ambition.  Prince  George,  who  with 
his  two  eldest  brothers  is  to  be  lodged  at  St.  James's,  is 
speedily  to  be  created  Prince  of  Wales."  ^  Prince  George 
succeeded  his  grandfather  in  1760  and  removed  to  the  palace 
from  Savile  House,  where  he  was  living  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  George  II.  He  was  little  known  to  his  subjects, 
but  he  quickly  won  approval  and  popularity  in  the  country 
and  the  Court.  "  For  the  King  himself,  he  seems  all  good- 
nature, and  wishing  to  satisfy  everybody.  All  his  speeches 
obliging.  I  saw  him  again  yesterday,  and  was  surprised  to 
find  the  levee-room  had  lost  so  entirely  the  air  of  the  lion's  den. 
This  young  man  don't  stand  in  one  spot,  with  his  eyes  fixed 
royally  on  the  ground,  and  dropping  bits  of  German  news ; 
he  walks  about,  and  speaks  to  everybody."  ^  The  marriage  of 
the  young  king  naturally  became  a  subject  of  much  import- 
ance, and  various  propositions  were  made,  when  George  III. 
suddenly  summoned  the  Council  to  St.  James's  and  there 
announced  his  impending  marriage  with  Princess  Charlotte 
of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz.    The  new  queen  landed  at  Harwich 

^  Lord  Hervey  :  Memoirs,  iii.,  344-5. 
"^  Horace  Walpole :  Letters,  iii.,  43. 
*  Ihid.,  iv.,  445. 


28o      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  arrived  in  London  on  September  8,  1761,  coming 
straight  to  St.  James's.  "  When  first  she  saw  the  palace 
she  trembled.  The  Duchess  of  Hamilton  smiled.  The 
Queen  said,  *  You  may  laugh;  you  have  been  married  twice; 
but  it  is  no  joke  to  me. '  The  King  received  her  in  the 
garden  of  St.  James's ;  she  would  have  kneeled,  but  he 
raised  and  embraced  her,  and  led  her  to  the  Princess,  where 
they  and  Lady  Augusta  dined  together.  Between  nine  and 
ten  at  night  they  went  to  chapel.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland 
gave  her  away,  and  after  the  ceremony  they  appeared  for  a 
few  minutes  in  the  drawing-room,  and  then  went  to  supper."  ^ 
The  marriage  took  place  in  the  German  chapel.  "  At  about 
ten  o'clock  the  procession  entered  the  Royal  Chapel,  the 
Princess  being  led  to  the  altar  by  the  Duke  of  York  and  Prince 
William.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  performed  the 
ceremony,  the  bride  being  given  away  by  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland.  Ten  bridesmaids  attended  her,  who  carried 
her  train,  which  was  of  purple  velvet,  lined  with  ermine, 
the  rest  of  her  dress  being  of  white  satin  and  silver 
gau2e.  .  .  .^ 

"  The  ceremony  of  the  marriage  being  ended  and  the  State 
attendants  of  the  Queen  having  all  been  introduced  to  her  in 
public,  their  Majesties  nov/  returned  to  the  apartments  on 
their  way  to  the  grand  supper  which  had  been  prepared  for 
all  the  wedding  company.  This  the  bridal  Queen  from 
excessive  fatigue,  requested  that  she  might  be  excused  from 
attending.  The  King  consented  wiHingly,  but  led  her  to  the 
table,  as  it  were,  to  welcome  the  guests,  and  then  back  to 
her  dressing-room,  to  be  disencumbered  of  the  brilliant  parts 
of  her  dress,  while  a  supper  was  prepared  in  a  private  room 

*  Horace  Walpole:  Memoirs  of  Reign  of  George  III.  (1894),  i.,  56. 
^  Mrs.  Papendiek:  Journals,  i.,  11. 


ST.  JAMES'S    PALACE  281 

for  the  King  and  Queen  alone "^  George  III.  and  Queen 

Charlotte  were,  however,  but  little  at  St.  James's  Palace ; 
in  the  same  year  as  their  marriage  Buckingham  House  was 
purchased  for  the  queen,  and  there  the  king  and  queen,  as 
well  as  subsequent  sovereigns,  generally  resided  when  in 
London,  only  using  St.  James's  on  state  occasions.  This 
was  necessitated  in  later  reigns  owing  to  a  disastrous  fire 
that  burnt  down  much  of  St.  James's  Palace  in  i8og.  The 
east  wing  of  the  inner  courtyard  was  entirely  destroyed,  and 
with  it  were  lost  many  of  the  most  valuable  pictures  and 
other  works  of  art  that  the  palace  contained.  The  state 
apartments  were,  however,  untouched. 

Madame  d'Arblay  describes  on  several  occasions  how 
Queen  Charlotte  and  her  ladies  used  to  drive  to  London 
from  Kew  for  the  drawing  rooms.  "  This  being  a  Court  day," 
she  wrote  on  July  27,  1786,  "  we  went  to  town.  The  Queen 
dresses  her  head  at  Kew,  and  puts  on  her  drawing-room 
apparel  at  St.  James's.  Her  new  attendant  dresses  all  at 
Kew,  except  tippet  and  long  ruffles,  which  she  carries  in 
paper,  to  save  from  dusty  roads."  ^  In  the  same  year  an 
attempt  on  the  life  of  the  king  was  made  just  as  he  was 
alighting  at  the  garden  gate  of  St.  James's.  A  woman 
named  Margaret  Nicholson,  who  was  afterwards  found  to  be 
insane,  presented  a  petition  to  the  king,  and  struck  him  with 
a  knife  as  he  was  taking  it.  The  knife  broke,  and  thus  the 
king  escaped,  the  woman  being  seized  on  the  point  of  making 
a  second  attempt.  Although  the  king  and  queen  lived  but 
little  at  the  palace,  most  of  their  children  were  born  there,  the 
eldest,  afterwards  King  George  IV.,  being  born  on  August  12, 
1762.     While  Prince  of  Wales,  his  marriage  with  Princess 

*  Mrs.  Papendiek  :  Journals,  i.,  13. 
"  Diary,  ed.  1904,  ii.,  404. 


282      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Caroline  of  Brunswick  was  celebrated  in  the  Chapel  Royal. 
The  prince,  on  first  seeing  his  bride,  had  taken  an  intense 
personal  dislike  to  her,  which  was  visible  to  all  those  present 
at  the  marriage.  "  The  princess  looked  dignified  and  com- 
posed, but  the  prince  agitated  to  the  greatest  degree.  He 
was  like  a  man  in  despair,  half  crazy.  He  held  so  fast  by 
the  queen's  hand  she  could  not  remove  it.  When  the  arch- 
bishop called  on  those  to  come  forward  who  knew  any 
impediment,  his  manner  of  doing  it  shook  the  prince  and 
made  me  shudder.  The  Duke  of  Gloucester  assured  me  the 
prince  was  quite  drunk,  and  that  after  dinner  he  went  out  and 
drunk  twelve  glasses  of  Maraschino."  The  later  sequel  to 
this  marriage  has  no  connection  with  St.  James's  Palace,  but 
the  only  daughter  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales,  the 
Princess  Charlotte,  was  baptized  there  in  1796.  Both  as 
regent  and  afterwards  as  king,  George  IV.  rarely  came  to 
St.  James's  Palace,  except  for  Court  ceremonies  and  func- 
tions. Towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  George  IIL  the 
Allied  Sovereigns  visited  England  and  were  received  in  much 
state  by  the  regent.  The  Emperor  Alexander,  however,  did 
not  occupy  the  apartments  prepared  for  him  at  St.  James's, 
except  on  State  occasions,  while  the  King  of  Prussia  with  his 
sons  took  up  their  residence  at  Clarence  House.  The  hero 
of  the  occasion  was  Marshal  Bliicher,  who  came  in  the  suite 
of  the  Prussian  king,  and  was  lodged  in  the  kitchen  court 
of  St.  James's.  He  arrived  there,  "  followed  by  an  immense 
multitude,  some  got  into  the  Carriage  with  him.  The 
Crowd  remained  in  the  Court-yard  till  dark,  huzzaing,  and 
the  gallant  General  frequently  showing  himself  at  the 
window     to     gratify    them."  ^      The     prince     regent    also 

^  Morning  Chronicle  June  8,  1814.     Cit.,  Ashton  :  Social  Life  under  the 
Regency,  ed.  1889,  p.  154. 


ST.  JAMES'vS    PALACE  283 

received  the  two  sovereigns  in  much  state  at  St.  James's 
Palace. 

The  Duke  of  Clarence,  who  became  the  heir  to  the  throne 
on  the  death  of  Princess  Charlotte,  had  apartments  in  St. 
James's  during  the  reign  of  George  IV.,  and  there  his  two 
daughters  were  born,  both  of  whom,  however,  died  in 
infancy.  After  his  accession  to  the  Throne  as  William  IV., 
he  with  Queen  Adelaide  removed  to  St.  James's  Palace. 
The  coronation  procession,  shorn  of  most  of  its  splendour, 
was  formed  at  St.  James's,  where  the  king  had  held  his  first 
levee,  but  three  weeks  before. 

Queen  Victoria  only  used  the  Palace  for  State  functions, 
and  after  1865  the  custom  of  holding  drawing  rooms  there 
was  given  up,  but  the  levees  have  always  been  and  still  are 
held  in  St.  James's  Palace.  The  most  important  ceremony 
that  took  place  at  St.  James's  during  her  reign  was  the 
queen's  marriage  with  Prince  Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg. 
"  February  10.  This  day  the  marriage  of  the  Queen's  Most 
Excellent  Majesty  with  Field-Marshal  His  Royal  Highness 
Francis  Albert  Augustus  Charles  Emanuel,  Duke  of  Saxe, 
Prince  of  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha,  K.G.,  was  solemnized 
at  the  Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's. 

"A  breakfast  was  provided  at  Buckingham  Palace  for  the 
royal  family  and  their  immediate  attendants,  and  for  her 
Majesty's  Ministers. 

"  Prince  Albert,  attended  by  his  suite,  proceeded  from  the 
Palace  about  half-past  eleven  o'clock,  to  St.  James's 
Palace,  .  .  . 

"  Her  Majesty,  attended  by  her  Royal  Household,  accom- 
panied by  her  Royal  Highness  the  Duchess  of  Kent, 
proceeded  at  twelve  o'clock,  from  Buckingham  Palace  to  St. 
James's  Palace,  .  .  , 


284      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

"  The  illustrious  personages,  and  others  composing  the 
Procession,  then  assembled  in  the  Throne-room,  and  having 
been  called  over  by  Garter  Principal  King  of  Arms,  the 
Processions  moved  in  the  following  order  to  the  Chapel 
Royal."  The  prince's  procession  left  the  throne-room  first. 
"  On  arrival  at  the  Chapel,  the  Drums  and  Trumpets  filed  off 
in  the  Ante-Chapel,  and,  the  Procession  advancing,  his  Royal 
Highness  was  conducted  to  the  seat  provided  for  him  on  the 
left  hand  of  the  altar.  His  supporters,  the  reigning  Duke  of 
Saxe  Coburg  and  Gotha,  and  the  Hereditary  Prince,  with 
the  officers  of  their  suite,  occupied  seats  near  the  Prince. 
The  Master  of  the  Ceremonies  and  the  officers  of  the  Bride- 
groom stood  near  the  person  of  His  Royal  Highness. 

"The  Lord  Chamberlain  and  Vice-Chamberlain,  with  the 
two  Heralds,  preceded  by  the  Drums  and  Trumpets,  returned 
to  attend  Her  Majesty."  On  the  arrival  of  the  queen's  pro- 
cession "at  the  entrance  of  the  Chapel  the  drums  and 
trumpets  filed  off:  the  Gentlemen-at-Arms  remained  in  the 
Ante-Chapel  during  the  ceremony,  and  the  Yeomen  of  the 
Guard  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase  of  the  Ante-Chapel.  Her 
Majesty's  Gentlemen  Ushers  conducted  the  respective  persons 
composing  the  Procession  to  the  places  provided  for  them  ; 
the  Princes  and  Princesses  of  the  Blood  Royal  to  the  seats 
prepared  for  them  on  the  haut-pas  ;  and  the  several  ladies 
attendant  on  the  Queen  to  the  seats  provided  near  her 
Majesty. 

"  Her  Majesty,  on  reaching  the  haut-pas,  took  her  seat  in 
the  chair  of  state  provided  for  the  occasion  on  the  right  of 
the  altar,  attended  by  the  Ladies  bearing  her  Majesty's  train. 

"  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  Dowager  was  present  during 
the  Solemnity  on  the  left  of  the  altar,  attended  by  the 
Countess  Mayo  and  Lady  Clinton,  Ladies  in  Waiting ;   Earl 


ST.  JAMl'S'S    1MLACI-:  2.S5 

Howe,  G.C.IL,  Lord  Chamberlain  ;  the  Earl  of  Denbij^h, 
G.C.H.,  Master  of  the  Horse;  the  Hon.  William  Ashley, 
Vice-Chamberlain  and  Treasurer;  Colonel  Sir  Horace 
Seymour,  K.C.H.,  Equerry ;  and  J.  G.  C.  Desbrowc  and 
J.  G.  T.  Sinclair,  esqs..  Pages  of  Honour. 

"  The  Service  was  then  commenced  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  having  on  his  right  the  Archbishop  of  York,  and 
on  his  left  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  assisted  as  Dean  of 
the  Chapel  Royal.  The  Duke  of  Sussex  gave  away  his 
Royal  Niece  ;  and  at  that  part  of  the  Service  where  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  read  the  words,  '  I  pronounce  that  they 
be  man  and  wife  together,'  the  Park  and  Tower  guns  fired. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  service,  the  procession  returned, 
that  of  the  Bridegroom  preceding  as  before,  excepting  that 
Prince  Albert  conducted  Her  Majesty  from  the  Chapel  Royal 
to  the  Throne-room,  where  the  registry  of  the  Marriage  was 
attested  with  the  usual  formahties.  Her  Majesty  and  the 
Prince  proceeded  the  same  afternoon  to  Windsor  Castle.  A 
banquet,  at  which  the  Earl  of  ErroU  presided  as  Lord 
Steward  of  the  Household,  was  given  at  St.  James's  Palace  ; 
and  honoured  by  the  presence  of  the  Duchess  of  Kent,  the 
Reigning  Duke  and  Hereditary  Prince  of  Saxe  Coburg,  and 
by  all  the  members  of  her  Majesty's  Household.  .  .  .  The 
day  was  universally  kept  as  a  holiday  throughout  the  country, 
and  in  the  evening  there  were  very  splendid  illuminations  in 
the  metropolis  and  in  all  the  principal  towns."  ^ 

Two  more  weddings  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  were 
celebrated  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's.  The  queen's  eldest 
daughter  was  married  to  Prince  Frederick  William  of  Prussia 
on  January  25,  1858.      Great  preparations  for  the  ceremony 

'  GentUman's  Magazine  (New  Series),  xiii.,  308-311. 


286      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

had  been  made  at  St.  James's,  so  that  the  chapel  became 
"  a  more  fitting  scene  for  a  state  marriage  than  it  was  when 
Queen  Victoria  appeared  there  as  a  bride  eighteen  years 
ago."  There  seems  to  have  been  a  desire  in  some  quarters 
in  Berlin  that  the  marriage  should  take  place  in  Germany, 
but,  as  the  queen  wrote  to  Lord  Clarendon,  "  Whatever  may 
be  the  usual  practice  of  Prussian  Princes,  it  is  not  every  day 
that  one  marries  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land."^ Lastly,  in  1893,  King  George  and  Queen  Mary 
were  married  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  afterwards  took 
up  their  residence  in  the  apartments  in  St.  James's  Palace, 
known  by  the  name  of  York  House,  which  had  been  occupied 
previously,  first  by  the  King  of  Hanover,  and  then  by  the 
Duchess  of  Cambridge  until  her  death  in  i88g. 

^  Letters  of  Queen  Victoria,  iii.,  321. 


(^Keneing^ott  (paface. 


IN  the  south-west  corner  of  Kensington  Gardens,  with- 
drawn from  the  busy  highway  of  the  old  Kensington 
Road,  "  mid  groves  and  avenues  of  ancient  elms," 
stands  the  quiet,  sombre,  brick-built  palace  which, 
after  being  neglected  and  well-nigh  forgotten  for  many 
years,  is  once  more  receiving  some  of  the  attention  which 
it  deserves. 

Its  outside  appearance  is  not  imposing,  and  upon  the 
whole  is  rendered  incongruous  and  unsatisfactory  by  the 
sharp  contrasts  which  it  presents  between  a  well-proportioned 
building,  skilfully,  if  plainly,  designed  and  carried  out  in  good 
material,  and  one  in  which  poor  material  has  been  worked  up 
into  a  commonplace  pile  without  any  originality  of  design  or 
regard  for  harmony.  In  spite  of  these  obvious  disadvantages, 
the  building  (partly  on  account  of  its  situation,  with  the  park 
on  three  sides  and  the  green  on  the  other)  still  fulfils  its 
original  intention  in  that  it  has  about  it  an  old-world  air  of 
quiet  comfort  and  peaceful  retirement. 

The  south-west  is  the  oldest  part  of  the  palace,  and  the 
lower  portion  of  the  south  front  in  deep  crimson  brick  to  the 
left  remains  to-day  probably  much  as  it  was  in  1691,  when  it 
had  been  altered  and  improved  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  for 
King  William  III.  and  Queen  Mary.  The  loftier  portion  to 
the  right  in  bright  red  brick  with  its  gallery  "  end  "  to  the 


288      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

left  of  the  east  front  is  a  specimen  of  Wren's  idea  of  a 
"gallery  building,"  an  abiding  reproach  to  the  rest  of  the 
east  front  joined  on  to  it  some  thirty  years  later  by  Kent. 

This  block  unfortunately  occupies  the  most  commanding 
position  at  the  present  time,  facing  the  Broad  Walk  and 
overlooking  the  Round  Pond,  and  in  its  blatant  inferiority 
well  deserves  to  be  called  extremely  ugly.  To  the  north- 
west of  this  the  older  part  of  the  palace  is  again  visible,  with 
two  main  storeys  in  deep  russet  brick,  and  on  the  first  floor 
the  fifteen  uniform  windows  of  the  principal  rooms  occupied 
by  Queen  Mary  and  Queen  Anne. 

Quite  at  the  north  end,  beneath  an  ugly  Georgian  portico, 
is  the  public  entrance  through  a  plain  oak  doorway  which 
opens  on  to  the  queen's  staircase  leading  to  the  state 
apartments.  It  is  reached  directly  from  the  Bayswater  Road 
by  a  side  pathway  in  Kensington  Gardens,  which  skirts  the 
meadow  to  the  rear  of  Kensington   Palace  Gardens. 

The  principal  entrance  is  on  the  west  side  of  the  palace 
facing  the  green,  and  leads  beneath  an  archway  into  an  old- 
fashioned  quadrangle  called  Clock  Court,  whence  numerous 
entrances  lead  to  the  various  private  suites  of  apartments. 

The  early  history  of  the  house  which  afterwards  became 
Kensington  Palace  is  obscure.  In  1578  only  six  persons 
were  rated  in  the  overseer's  books  as  living  in  the  whole  of 
Kensington  and  Knightsbridge.  There  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that  a  house  adjoining  the  White  Hart,  with  fields 
abutting  on  Hyde  Park  and  a  large  kitchen  garden  to  the 
north,  the  descent  of  which  can  be  traced  between  the  years 
i6ig  and  1631  from  Sir  Henry  Rich  (afterwards  Lord 
Kensington  and  the  first  Lord  Holland)  through  his  father- 
in-law.  Sir  Walter  Cope,  of  Cope's  Castle  (better  known  as 
Holland  House)  to  the  Coppin  family,  may  be  the  same  one 


Kl-XSIXOTOX    PALACl-:  289 

from  which  Ann,  the  dauj,'htcr  of  Sir  Hencage  Finch, 
formerly  Recorder  of  London,  was  married  in  Kensington 
parish  church  in  1651. 

No  deed,  however,  has  yet  been  found  to  definitely  prove 
how  or  when  their  house  at  Kensington  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  Finches  ;  but  when  Hyde  Park  was  sold 
by  Cromwell  in  1653  and  1654  several  parcels  of  the  park 
were  described  as  being  bounded  by  Mr.  Finch's  house  and 
lands.  There  is  a  notice  in  the  parish  books  of  Kensington 
for  1656  of  a  burial  which  took  place  from  Lady  Finch's 
house.  Solicitor-General  Sir  Heneage  Finch,  son  of  the 
Recorder,  purchased  the  estate  in  1661  from  his  younger 
brother,  Sir  John,  who  was  a  noted  physician  in  his  day. 
Later  in  the  same  year  Sir  Heneage  obtained  a  grant  from 
Charles  H.  of  the  ditch  and  fence  dividing  his  lands  from 
Hyde  Park  "  from  the  south  highway  leading  to  the  town  of 
Kensington  to  the  north  highway  leading  to  the  town  of 
Acton." 

On  June  14,  1664,  Pepys  went  to  Kensington  to  see  Lady 
Sandwich  ;  on  which  occasion  he  visited  Sir  Heneage  Finch's 
garden  and  saw  the  fountain,  and,  says  he,  "  a  mighty  cool 
place  it  is,  with  a  great  laver  of  water  in  the  middle." 

In  1681  Sir  Heneage  was  created  Earl  of  Nottingham,  and 
his  house  at  Kensington  became  generally  known  as  Notting- 
ham House.  His  son  Daniel,  the  second  earl,  supported 
the  cause  of  William  HL  and  became  Lord  Chancellor  and 
chief  adviser  to  Queen  Mary,  when  her  husband  was  absent 
on  the  Continent. 

The  king,  who  suffered  from  asthma,  wished  to  find  a 
house  amid  healthy  surroundings,  yet  within  easy  reach  of 
Parliament,  where  he  could  breathe  purer  air  than  was 
possible  at  Whitehall.     He  seems  to  have  hesitated  for  a 

R.P.  U 


290      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

time  between  Holland  House  and  Nottingham  House,  but 
eventually  purchased  the  latter  from  its  owner  for  18,000 
guineas,  subsequently  to  July  4,  1689,  at  which  date  it  is 
still  referred  to  in  the  State  Papers  as  Lord  Nottingham's 
house  at  Kensington. 

Thus  "  the  black,  funereal  Finches,  a  clever,  on  the  whole, 
a  worthy  race,  but  melancholy,"  gave  place  before  this 
strong,  persistent  man,  whose  statue  in  bronze — "  a  gift  from 
the  Kaiser  William  to  King  Edward  VII.  for  the  British 
nation  " — confronts  the  onlooker  from  the  middle  of  the 
gravel  walk  leading  to  the  main  entrance  on  the  south  front 
of  the  palace,  upon  which  he  has  left  the  impress  of  his  own 
"  Dutch  solidity." 

The  transaction  was  completed  before  September  19, 
1689,  for  on  that  date  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  surveyor- 
general  of  works  to  William  and  Mary  (as  he  had 
previously  been  both  to  Charles  II.  and  James  II.),  applied 
to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  for  an  allowance  of  ;^5oo 
towards  the  building  at  Kensington,  praying  them  to  take 
into  consideration  the  ordinary  allowance  for  the  repairs  of 
the  king's  houses. 

.The  actual  work  of  repairing  and  rebuilding  appears  to 
have  been  commenced  on  October  i,  judging  from  the 
enrolled  accounts  of  Thomas  Lloyd,  paymaster,  in  the 
Public  Record  Office,  which  were  made  up  from  the  work- 
men's weekly  pay-books,  and  together  cover  a  period  of  six 
and  a  half  years. 

On  October  12  Simon  de  Brienne  and  his  wife  were 
appointed,  by  letters  patent,  housekeeper  and  wardrobe- 
keeper  at  Kensington  Palace,  and  during  this  month  the 
king  and  queen  took  up  their  abode  at  Holland  House, 
pending    the    alterations.      Queen   Mary    disliked    Holland 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  291 

House  and  hurried  on  the  work  at  Kensington  as  much  as 
possible,  and  in  spite  of  an  accident  which  occurred  in 
November,  when  a  new  apartment,  where  she  had  been  but 
a  short  time  before,  collapsed  and  killed  some  of  the  work- 
men, it  was  sufficiently  advanced  for  the  move  to  be  made 
before  the  end  of  the  year. 

On  February  25,  1690,  Evelyn  writes :  "  I  went  to 
Kensington,  which  King  William  had  bought  of  Lord 
Nottingham  and  altered,  but  was  yet  a  patched-up  building; 
but  with  the  gardens,  however,  it  is  a  verj'  neat  villa." 

During  the  three  months  in  1690  when  King  William  was 
in  Ireland,  the  queen  found  some  relief  from  her  anxiety  for 
his  safety  and  from  the  difficulties  which  beset  her  in  an 
unsettled  realm  by  spending  a  few  quiet  hours  now  and 
again  at  Kensington.  Her  letters  to  him  at  this  time 
contain  several  references  to  the  progress  of  the  new 
building,  in  which  they  both  took  so  much  interest.  When 
the  news  of  his  expected  return  arrived,  she  hastened  to 
Kensington  "  to  put  things  in  order  there." 

During  the  greater  part  of  1691  William  was  away  on 
campaign  in  Flanders,  but  the  end  of  October  in  that  year 
found  Mary  rejoicing  in  the  return  of  her  husband,  the 
convenience  of  her  house,  and  the  neatness  of  her  furniture. 
This  peaceful  state  of  things  did  not  continue  long,  as  a  fire 
occurred  at  3.30  a.m.  on  November  9,  which  burnt  one  side 
of  the  house,  since  there  were  no  appliances  at  hand  to 
extinguish  it,  and  it  was  six  o'clock  before  a  fire-engine 
arrived  from  St.  James's. 

Among  the  Earl  of  Denbigh's  MSS.  there  is  a  short  but 
graphic  account  by  an  eye-witness  of  the  early  morning 
scene  in  the  garden,  where  all  the  members  of  the  household 
had  gathered  for  safety.     The  king  and  queen  are  described 

U   2 


292      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

as  laughing  heartily  at  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  who  were 
rushing  about  en  chemise  with  needless  alarm.  "  The  king  was 
walking  about  looking  at  the  bundles  of  goods  which  had 
been  packed  up  by  each  person  and  was  especially  amused 
at  a  heap  of  Dutch  cheese,  bottles  and  bread  which  some-one 
had  got  together  as  if  to  withstand  a  siege."  Another  letter 
written  at  the  time  tells  how  the  queen,  fearing  that  the  fire 
might  have  been  only  an  excuse  to  make  the  king  leave  at 
night,  persuaded  him  not  to  go  to  Whitehall,  as  he  had 
thought  of  doing  between  four  and  five  in  the  morning.  For, 
throughout  their  reign,  to  add  to  their  other  troubles,  they  had 
constantly  to  guard  against  the  likelihood  of  assassination. 

The  cost  of  the  restoration  and  rebuilding  at  Kensington 
Palace  to  this  time,  when  Mary  thought  that  she  "  had  done 
with  the  workmen  there,"  had  been  nearly  ;^6o,ooo,  of 
which  £8,000  had  been  expended  on  making  a  new  road  to 
it  through  Hyde  Park.  Carpenters  were  paid  at  the  rate  of 
3s.  and  2s.  8^.  a  day,  masons  and  bricklayers  at  3s.,  2S.  ^d., 
and  IS.  M.,  plasterers  at  2s.  6d.,  is.  8^^.,  and  is.,  while 
labourers  received  2S.,  is.  M.,  and  is.  a  day.  Gravel  was 
"  laid  solid  in  the  square  for  coaches,"  and  a  large  clock  and 
bell  were  erected,  which  cost  with  weights,  pulleys,  and 
ropes  £()7  js.  6d.  There  is  a  good  view  of  these,  with  the 
sundial  beneath,  from  the  windows  of  Queen  Caroline's 
drawing-room  in  the  state  apartments. 

The  work  done  for  Queen  Mary  during  this  period  by 
Sir  Christopher  Wren,  with  Nicholas  Hawkesmore  as  his 
clerk  of  works,  included  the  decorative  door  in  the  east  wall, 
round  the  corner  from  the  public  entrance,  built  to  give 
access  to  the  staircase  leading  to  her  gallery.  The  fine 
stone  carving  above  it  bears  the  initials  W.  M.  R.  on  a 
central  shield. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  293 

The  staircase  itself  in  its  plain  oaken  severity,  with  its 
wainscotting  of  deep  reddish-brown,  every  panel  of  which 
has  been  fitted  to  its  appropriate  place  with  the  fine  sense  of 
proportion  which  Wren  possessed  in  such  a  pre-eminent 
degree,  and  the  landing  windows  intact  with  panes  and 
mouldings  of  the  size  and  thickness  which  were  part  of  his 
plan,  forms  an  admirable  introduction  to  the  beautiful 
gallery  above. 

It  is  most  restful  to  sit  on  one  of  the  low  oak  window- 
seats  in  this  room,  now  as  it  was  two  centuries  ago,  and 
enjoy  the  quiet  sense  of  pleasure  which  the  low-coved 
ceiling,  the  oak  panelling  of  the  same  rich  colour  as  the 
wainscotting  of  the  staircase,  the  rich  carving  of  the  cornice 
and  doorway  brackets,  and  the  unspoiled  windows  with  their 
pleasant  outlook,  all  combine  to  impart.  The  chimney- 
piece  on  the  right  is  the  original  one  designed  by  Wren,  the 
other  is  copied  from  it  ;  the  looking-glasses  with  the 
fantastic  gilding  above  them  testify  to  the  good  workman- 
ship of  Gerard  Johnson,  cabinet-maker,  and  Robert  Streeter, 
serjeant-painter,  in  that  they  have  survived  a  century  and  a 
half  of  neglect. 

The  two  next  rooms  are  more  immediately  connected 
with  Queen  Anne,  but  Queen  Mary's  privy  chamber,  the 
ceiling  of  which  is  also  coved,  was  finished  for  her  as  it 
appears  to-day,  the  initials  W.  and  M.  occurring  in  the 
carved  oak  cornice,  but  the  oak  panelling  which  still 
covered  the  walls  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  is 
missing.  Two  specimens  of  the  "  neat  furniture  "  of  this 
queen  show  how  beautifully  it  must  have  harmonised  with 
her  rooms,  the  writing  and  work  tables  which  she  constantly 
used. 

Queen   Mary  was  interested  in  gardening    as  well  as  in 


294      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

architecture,  and  the  palace  grounds  were  laid  out  in  the 
Dutch  style  as  far  as  the  highway  on  the  south  and  also  on 
the  east,  extending  northwards  to  the  fine  red-brick  piers 
supporting  vases  of  carved  Portland  stone  which  at  the 
present  time,  face  the  north-end  of  Queen  Anne's  orangery. 
Large  sums  of  money  were  expended  in  statues,  stone  vases, 
urns,  chairs  and  arbours,  and  other  ornamental  work,  as  well 
as  for  levelling,  planting,  and  gravelling.  There  was  a 
terrace  by  the  bowling  green,  and  the  gravel  walks  were 
distinguished  by  such  names  as  the  West  End  Walk,  the 
Little  Walk  to  the  wood,  the  Brazen-Face  Walk,  the  Elm- 
tree  Walk.  A  contemporary  account  describes  these 
gardens  as  "  not  great,  nor  abounding  with  fine  plants. 
The  orange,  lemon,  myrtle,  and  what  other  trees  they  had 
there  in  summer,  were  all  removed  to  Mr.  London's  and 
Mr.  Wise's  greenhouse  at  Brompton  Park,  a  little  mile  from 
them.  But  the  walks  and  grass  laid  very  fine,  and  they  were 
digging  up  a  flat  of  four  or  five  acres  to  enlarge  the  garden." 

The  next  two  years,  as  her  memoirs  show,  were  very 
trying  ones  for  Mary.  The  fear  of  invasion  in  1692  ;  the 
inaction  of  the  Fleet  under  Admiral  Russell,  at  length 
relieved  by  the  battle  of  La  Hogue ;  the  enforced  absence 
of  King  William  in  Flanders  for  six  months  and  the  ill- 
success  of  the  war,  coupled  with  treachery  and  family 
complications  at  home,  induced  her  during  the  summer  to 
try  a  health  cure  at  Kensington.  "  When,"  she  writes,  "  I 
reflect  on  the  nineteen  days  of  folly  I  spent  there,  I  hate 
myself  for  it ;  yet  then  I  persuaded  myself  it  was  necessary  ; 
for  I  was  to  drink  Spa  waters,  and  with  that  one  must  for 
one's  health  neglect  all  things  else." 

It  was  in  this  year  that  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough, 
seeing  that  no  notice  had  been  taken  by  the  king  and  queen 


KENSINGTON    I'ALACF.  295 

of  her  husband's  treasonous  correspondence  with  the  Court 
at  St.  Germain,  and  that  the  Princess  Anne  was  entirely 
under  her  own  influence,  attended  the  Court  at  Kensington 
as  if  nothing  had  occurred.  Queen  Mary  promptly  forbade 
the  repetition  of  this  intrusion,  and  an  angry  correspondence 
followed,  but,  on  the  return  of  King  William,  the  Earl  of 
Marlborough  was  abruptly  dismissed  from  his  office  as  lord 
of  the  bed-chamber.  Since  Anne  persisted  in  retaining  her 
favourite  against  the  express  wishes  both  of  William  and  her 
sister  Mary,  the  coolness  which  had  existed  for  some  time 
between  the  two  sisters  ripened  into  an  open  breach. 

The  only  member  of  her  family  who  afforded  Queen  Mary 
real  pleasure  at  this  time  was  the  little  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
Anne's  only  surviving  child,  who  usually  lived  at  Campden 
House,  close  to  Kensington  Palace,  and  every  day  when  his 
aunt  was  in  residence  there  the  boy  was  taken  to  see  her. 
King  William  also  took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  him,  for, 
although  delicate,  he  was  spirited,  outspoken,  and  full  of 
promise. 

"  One  day  before  the  king's  departure  for  the  campaign  in 
1694  the  little  duke  had  a  grand  field-day  in  Kensington 
Gardens,  for  by  way  of  encouraging  military  tastes  in  his 
heir.  King  William  had  given  him  a  troop  of  boys  to  exercise 
as  soldiers,  and  on  this  occasion  condescended  to  review 
them.  .  .  .  The  child  very  affectionately  promised  his 
Majesty  the  assistance  of  himself  and  his  regiment  for  the 
Flemish  war;  then  turning  to  the  queen,  he  said  eagerly, 
'  My  mamma  once  had  guards  as  well  as  you ;  why  does 
she  not  have  them  now  ?'....  King  William  presented 
the  duke's  drummer,  on  the  spot,  with  two  guineas,  as 
a  reward  for  the  loudness  of  his  music,  which  proved  a 
seasonable  diversion  to  the  awkward  question." 


296      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

On  December  ig  Queen  Mary  was  taken  ill  at  Kensing- 
ton Palace,  and  the  next  day,  with  a  premonition  of  the  end, 
she  sat  up  all  night  in  her  private  room,  burning  and  destroy- 
ing papers.  Her  illness  developed  into  smallpox,  and  when 
dangerous  symptoms  showed  themselves,  William  is  said  to 
have  "  remained  with  her  night  and  day,  while  she  struggled 
between  life  and  death."  **  However  the  king's  general 
character  might  have  appeared  to  savour  of  the  stoic,  yet  his 
heart  could  be  moved  to  the  most  tender  emotions ;  for 
whilst  her  Majesty  lay  upon  the  bed  of  death,  he  repeatedly 
fainted,  so  overwhelming  was  his  grief."  He  paid  her  the 
tribute  of  saying  "  that  during  their  whole  wedlock  he  had 
never  known  one  single  fault  in  his  queen."  She  died  on 
December  28,  "  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her  personally, 
and  honoured  and  respected  by  all  but  the  partisans  of  the 
bigoted  and  frivolous  Court  of  Versailles." 

Two  portraits  of  her  hang  in  the  queen's  gallery,  one 
when  she  was  Princess  of  Orange,  painted  by  Wissing  for 
her  father,  the  original  of  several  copies ;  the  other  in  royal 
robes,  facing  the  companion  portrait  of  her  husband  at  the 
other  end  of  the  gallery.  William  III.  was  so  pleased  with 
these  portraits  that  he  knighted  Kneller  for  painting  them. 

Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  the  favourite  artist,  and  Radcliffe, 
the  eccentric  Jacobite  physician  of  this  period,  were  great 
friends  and  lived  next  door  to  one  another  at  Kensington. 
For,  as  Bowack  writes  in  his  Antiquities  of  Middlesex, 
"  Kensington,  being  the  place  King  William  was  pleased  to 
fix  upon  for  his  residence,  was  during  the  course  of  his  reign 
filled  with  persons  of  honour  and  distinction,  and  grew 
extremely  in  building  and  pleasant  retreats."  So  great  was 
their  friendship  that  an  entrance  was  made  leading  from  one 
garden  to  the  other.     This  gave  rise  to  a  domestic  disturbance 


KENSINGTON    PALACF.  297 

on  one  occasion,  when  Kneller  exclaimed,  "  I  shall  take  the 
door  away  and  brick  up  the  aperture."  "  Take  it  and  do 
what  you  like  with  it,  except  paint  it,"  observed  Radcliffe. 
"  I  am  willing  to  take  anything  from  you,  except  physic," 
retorted  Kneller. 

The  rebuilding  at  Kensington  Palace  after  the  fire  in  i6gi 
cost  about  £b,ooo,  and  during  the  next  five  years  over 
^^35,000  was  laid  out  in  further  alterations  and  improve- 
ments. "  The  great  court  and  the  highway  before  the 
house "  were  paved  with  ragstone  for  £s^-\  4^-  Si.  and 
Gabriel  Gibber,  statuary,  was  paid  ^^787  5s.  for  four  great 
flower  pots  of  Portland  stone,  richly  carved,  probably  those 
surmounting  the  four  pilasters  of  the  same  stone  which 
form  the  decorative  work  in  the  south  front. 

For  it  was  at  this  time  that  Wren  designed  and  built  the 
king's  gallery  in  this  part  of  the  building  and  the  staircase 
leading  to  it.  These  are  reached  through  the  state  rooms 
belonging  to  a  later  period  and  have  been  greatly  changed 
by  the  decorative  art  which  was  then  applied  to  them. 

The  ceiling  of  the  gallery  was  originally  plain  and  the  walls 
oak-panelled  to  correspond  with  the  oak  cornice  and  doors, 
which  Mr.  Law  says  "  are  among  the  finest  specimens  any- 
where existing  of  Wren's  decorative  art."  Grinling  Gibbons, 
carver,  received  for  work  done  in  this  room  and  elsewhere  in 
the  "  new  gallery  building  "  .  .  .  "  and  other  places  about 
the  palace  £"839  os.  ^d." 

Although  the  original  chimneypiece  has  been  removed, 
part  of  the  overmantel  remains  with  the  old  map  and  dial 
made  for  King  William  by  Robert  Norden  and  Thomas 
Colliston.  The  map  supplied  him  with  the  names  of  the 
towns  and  other  information  for  his  campaigns  in  Flanders  ; 
the  dial  showed  him  at  a  glance  from  which  quarter  the  wind 


298      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

was  blowing  by  an  ingenious  contrivance  which  connected 
the  dial-hand  to  a  vane  above  the  roof.  The  vane  was 
fitted  up  and  painted  by  Isaac  Thompson  for  ^^54  8s.  ^d. 

Thus  this  room,  which  is  chiefly  connected  with  William  III., 
throws  an  interesting  sidelight  on  the  warlike  turn  of  his 
energetic  mind,  the  asthmatical  infirmity  from  which  he 
suffered,  and  the  desire  which  constantly  impelled  him  to 
leave  England  for  Holland. 

A  pleasant  anecdote,  showing  William's  love  for  children, 
has  been  handed  down  by  the  secretary  in  attendance  on  the 
occasion  when  Lord  Buckhurst,  the  little  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Dorset,  then  Lord  Chamberlain,  knocked  at  the  door  of  the 
king's  gallery.  When  asked  what  he  wanted,  "  You,"  he 
replied,  "  to  be  a  horse  to  my  coach.  I've  wanted  you  a 
long  time !  "  William  turned  to  his  little  friend  with  a 
smile,  such  as  his  secretary  had  never  seen  on  his  face  before, 
and,  taking  the  string  of  the  coach,  dragged  it  up  and  down 
the  long  gallery,  till  his  playfellow  was  satisfied. 

Evelyn  paid  a  second  visit  to  Kensington  Palace  on 
April  23,  i6g6.  The  entry  in  his  diary  runs,  "  I  went  to  see 
the  king's  house  at  Kensington.  It  is  very  noble,  but  not  great. 
The  gallery  furnished  with  the  best  pictures  from  all  the 
houses,  Titian,  Raphael,  Correggio,  Holbein,  Julio  Romano, 
Bassan,  Vandyke,  Tintoret,  and  others  ;  a  great  collection  of 
porcelain  ;  and  a  pretty  private  library.  The  gardens  about 
it  very  delicious."  There  is  a  catalogue  of  the  pictures  to 
which  Evelyn  refers  in  the  British  Museum,  dated  1700. 

After  the  death  of  Queen  Mary,  a  formal  reconciliation 
had  taken  place  between  King  William  and  the  Princess 
Anne,  but,  as  Burnet  writes,  "  the  king  did  not  bring  her  into 
any  share  in  business  ;  nor  did  he  order  his  ministers  to  wait 
upon  her  and  give  her  any  account  of  affairs." 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  299 


He  continued,  however,  to  be  interested  in  the  young  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  who  was  taken  one  day  in  state  to  Kensington 
Palace  by  his  father,  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  to  be 
invested  with  the  Order  of  the  Garter.  William  "  buckled 
it  with  his  own  hands,  an  office  usually  performed  by  one  of 
the  Knights  Companions  at  the  mandate  of  the  sovereign." 

An  historic  ceremony  in  connection  with  the  same  Order 
took  place  in  May,  i6g8,  in  the  presence  chamber,  another 
of  Wren's  rooms  which  was  considerably  altered  at  the  same 
time  as  the  king's  gallery,  when  William  III.  gave  an 
audience  to  Count  de  Bonde,  Ambassador  Extraordinary 
from  the  Court  of  Sweden.  He  brought  with  him  the 
insignia  of  the  Order  belonging  to  his  late  master,  King 
Charles  XI.,  and,  after  a  long  oration,  he  handed  them  to 
the  sovereign,  who  redelivered  them  to  the  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Order.  On  this  occasion 
the  Knights  Companions  were  assembled  "  in  their  mantles, 
caps,  and  feathers,  attended  by  the  officers  of  the  Order  in 
their  mantles,  and  the  heralds  in  their  coats." 

Czar  Peter  the  Great,  "  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men 
who  figures  in  the  history  of  any  age  or  country,"  in  the 
course  of  his  long  stay  in  England  in  1698,  paid  several  visits 
to  William  III.  at  Kensington  Palace.  He  liked  to  see 
without  being  seen,  and,  when  a  ball  was  given  in  honour  of 
the  Princess  Anne  on  her  birthday,  viewed  the  dancers  in 
the  king's  gallery  from  a  small  gallery  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  portrait  of  the  Czar  which  Kneller  painted  for 
William  HI.  ranks  as  one  of  the  best  still  extant.  It  hangs 
in  Queen  Mary's  privy  chamber,  revealing  a  striking  figure 
in  armour,  which  commands  attention  because  it  shows  the 
man  as  he  then  was  in  his  twenty-seventh  year ;  restless, 
inscrutable,  with  the  Tartar  strain  visibly  stamped  upon  him. 


300      ROYAL   PALACES   OF    ENGLAND 

Another  contemporary  portrait  in  this  room  is  that  of 
Matthew  Prior,  the  poet,  who  owed  his  introduction  at 
Court  to  his  patron,  the  Earl  of  Dorset.  He  wrote  the 
following  lines  in  appreciation  of  William  III. : — 

Little  Will,  the  scourge  of  France, 
No  godhead,  but  the  first  of  men. 

This  king  "exacted  the  utmost  regularity  in  every  depart- 
ment of  his  palace  and  sometimes  by  means  ungracious  ;  for 
latterly  he  became  hasty,  which  growing  by  indulgence  into 
peevishness,  betrayed  him  into  acts  unworthy  his  exalted 
rank,  even  to  the  using  severe  and  bitter  language  to  his 
inferior  attendants,  whom  he  not  unfrequently  in  his  splenetic 
fits,  chastised  with  the  cane." 

The  young  Duke  of  Gloucester  died  in  1700,  a  few  days 
after  his  eleventh  birthday,  "to  the  great  grief  of  all 
concerned  in  him  "  ;  and  William  became  more  determined 
than  ever  in  his  efforts  against  France.  In  the  midst  of  his 
plans  to  thwart  the  ambition  of  Louis  XIV.,  "  in  a  critical 
time  for  his  own  glory,"  he  met  with  the  accident  in  Hampton 
Court  Park  which  eventually  cost  him  his  life.  Against  the 
advice  of  his  surgeons,  he  insisted  on  driving  the  same  night 
to  Kensington  Palace,  where  dangerous  symptoms  soon 
showed  themselves. 

The  last  fortnight  of  William's  life  was  spent  in  maturing 
the  Grand  Alliance  to  form  a  powerful  coalition  against 
France.  In  spite  of  severe  suffering,  his  strong  sense  of 
duty,  coupled  with  "  his  characteristic  decision  and  firmness, 
his  enlarged  and  comprehensive  mind  and  businesslike 
habits,"  enabled  him  to  carry  out  his  purpose  with  "  a  cool, 
deliberate  foresight  and  presence  of  mind  that  surprised  all 
about  him." 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  301 

The  two  faithful  friends  who  had  followed  William  from 
Holland,  Bentinck,  Lord  Portland,  and  Kcppel,  Earl  of 
Albemarle,  were  with  him  at  the  last.  "  Je  tire  vers  ma  fin," 
he  quietly  said  to  Albemarle,  who  had  hurried  to  his  bedside 
from  the  seat  of  war  ;  "  I  must  submit,"  to  the  physician  in 
attendance.  When  no  longer  able  to  speak,  he  took 
Bentinck's  hand  and  pressed  it  tenderly  to  his  heart. 

The  body  lay  in  state  in  the  "little  bed-chamber," 
watched  day  and  night  by  servants,  from  March  8  to 
April  12,  when  the  funeral  procession  left  Kensington  for 
W^estminster  Abbey. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren  and  Nicholas  Hawkesmore  retained 
under  Queen  Anne  the  offices  which  they  had  held  under  her 
predecessor.       At    her    accession  there  was  a  debt  of  over 
j^4,ooo  on  Kensington  Palace,  and  only  a  few  trifling  addi-" 
tions  were  made  to  it  during  her  reign. 

Expense,  however,  was  not  spared  on  the  gardens,  which 
were  considerably  enlarged  and  improved  under  the  direction 
of  Wise  and  London,  whom  Addison  describes  in  No.  477  of 
the  Spectator  as  "  the  heroic  poets  of  gardening."  Bowack, 
writing  in  1705,  says,  "There  is  a  noble  collection  of  foreign 
plants  and  fine  neat  greens,  which  makes  it  pleasant  all  the 
year,  and  the  contrivance,  variety,  and  disposition  of  the 
whole  is  extremely  pleasing.  .  .  .  Her  Majesty  has  been 
pleased  lately  to  plant  near  thirty  acres  more  towards  the 
north,  separated  from  the  rest  by  a  stately  green-house,  not 
yet  finished  :  upon  this  spot  is  near  one  hundred  men  daily  at 
work,  and  so  great  is  the  progress  they  have  made,  that  in  less 
than  nine  months  the  whole  is  levelled,  laid  out,  and  planted, 
and  when  finished  will  be  very  fine."  A  very  good  idea  of  the 
result  can  be  obtained  from  the  engraving  of  Kensington 
Palace  in  Queen  Anne's  time  in  Kip's  Britannia  Illustrata. 


302      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Bowack's  "  stately  greenhouse,"  Queen  Anne's  orangery, 
was  erected  for  her  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  a  unique 
specimen  of  the  combination  of  the  useful  with  the  beautiful 
in  the  hands  of  a  true  artist.  A  detailed,  appreciative  de- 
scription of  both  the  interior  and  exterior  of  this  interesting 
building,  "  one  of  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  the  art  of 
the  Renaissance  in  London,  if  not  in  England,"  with  minute 
particulars  of  the  cost  of  its  erection,  are  given  in  Mr.  Law's 
Guide  to  Kensington  Palace. 

Wren  also  built  the  alcove  for  Queen  Anne  which  was 
placed  facing  the  orangery  at  the  end  of  the  gravel  walk 
leading  from  the  south  front,  against  the  wall  which  used  to 
shut  in  the  palace  grounds  from  the  Kensington  highway. 

Anne  enlarged  the  park  of  Kensington  Palace,  commonly 
known  as  Kensington  Gardens,  by  enclosing  about  one 
hundred  acres  from  Hyde  Park,  and  formed  a  paddock 
"  stocked  with  fine  deer  and  antelopes."  The  names  of 
Buck  Hill  Gate  and  Buck  Hill  Walk  still  survive  to  mark 
the  whereabouts  of  this  paddock. 

Queen  Anne  was  very  fond  of  Kensington  Palace  and 
usually  lived  there  when  she  was  not  at  Windsor.  She  and 
her  husband.  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  occupied  the  wing 
to  which  the  queen's  staircase  leads,  and  in  consequence 
these  have  sometimes  been  called  the  Denmark  wing  and 
staircase.  Two  of  the  state  rooms  bear  her  name.  Queen 
Anne's  closet  and  private  dining-room.  The  little  room  was 
formerly  oak-panelled  and  corresponded  to  the  larger  one  in 
which  Wren's  handiwork  remains  still  unspoiled,  conveying 
a  picturesque  air  of  comfort  from  the  coved  ceiling  carried 
behind  the  oak  cornice  to  the  two  charming  recesses  and 
the  beautiful  protruding  doorway. 

The   pictures   are   all   of  the  time  of  Queen  Anne ;    her 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  303 

husband  and  son,  both  in  armour,  look  down  from  the  walls. 
Here  also  are  John  Churchill,  first  Duke  of  Marlborough, 
about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  handsome  and  graceful,  his 
renown  as  a  military  leader  still  in  the  future ;  and  William, 
Earl  Cowper,  Lord  Chancellor  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Sacheverell's 
trial,  who  is  almost  hidden  behind  the  large  cabinet  in  the 
deep  recess.  Queen  Anne  herself  figures  in  two  interesting 
functions,  in  one  of  which  the  celebrated  Sarah  is  in  attendance 
in  her  office  as  Mistress  of  the  Robes. 

In  the  second  year  of  her  reign  Queen  Anne  received  a 
visit  from  Charles  of  Austria,  who  was  then  on  his  way  to 
Spain  to  take  possession  of  the  crown  which  England  helped 
him  to  secure  against  the  French  claimant,  at  such  great 
cost,  in  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succession.  "  When  he 
dined  in  public  with  the  queen,  he  attracted  the  admiration 
of  all  ranks,  who  crowded  to  Windsor  in  great  numbers  to 
see  him."  At  the  commencement  of  this  meal,  Charles 
presented  his  sword  to  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  with 
Spanish  courtliness,  saying  "  that  he  had  nothing  worthier 
of  his  acceptance,  for  he  was  poor,  and  had  little  more  than 
his  sword  and  his  mantle."  "  At  the  end  of  the  meal  he, 
with  elaborate  compliments,  prevailed  on  the  duchess  to 
give  him  the  napkin,  which  it  was  her  office  to  present  to 
the  queen,  and  he  held  it  for  her  Majesty,  when  she  washed 
her  hands.  At  the  moment  of  giving  back  the  napkin  to  the 
duchess,  he  presented  her  with  a  superb  diamond  ring." 

The  portrait  of  this  Spanish  king,  who  afterwards  became 
Charles  VI.  of  Austria,  father  to  the  great  Empress  Maria 
Theresa,  and  whose  "  engaging  manners,  noble  appearance 
and  superior  accomplishments"  made  a  great  impression 
in  England,  hangs  in  the  queen's  galler}-  in  Kensington 
Palace.      For  painting  this  portrait  KncUer  was  created  a 


304      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

knight  of  the  Roman  Empire  by  the  Emperor  Leopold,  the 
father  of  Charles. 

Next  it  hangs  the  interesting  portrait  of  Mrs.  Elliott,  wife 
of  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  bed-chamber  to  Charles  IL, 
the  work  of  John  Riley,  a  good  portrait  painter  of  the  time 
of  Charles  II.  and  James  IL 

Anne  was  holding  her  Court  at  Kensington  in  1707  when 
the  negotiations  were  concluded  for  the  union  of  England 
and  Scotland.  On  this  occasion  the  Duke  of  Hamilton, 
the  Lord  High  Commissioner  for  settling  the  union,  was 
created  a  peer  of  England  and  received  a  pension  of  £3,000 
a  year. 

In  1708  Anne  withdrew  to  Kensington  as  frequently  as 
possible  to  nurse  her  sick  husband,  who  was  suffering  from 
violent  and  distressing  fits  of  asthma,  in  quiet  and  good  air. 
Prince  George,  called  "  est-il  possible"  by  his  father-in-law, 
James  IL,  was  a  man  of  few  words,  dull  and  heavy,  though 
of  proved  valour,  who  left  absolutely  no  impression  on  English 
political  life.  He  had  been  a  good  husband  to  Anne,  who 
tended  him  in  the  declining  months  of  his  life  with  the 
utmost  devotion.  In  these  wifely  cares  she  was  assisted 
by  Abigail  Masham,  who  was  in  constant  attendance  upon 
her. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough, 
informed  of  "  the  grand  apartments  in  which  her  cousin 
Masham  received  company,  whenever  her  friends  visited 
her  at  Kensington  Palace,"  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
these  were  some  which  had  been  fitted  up  for  Keppel  by 
King  William,  and  allotted  to  herself  but  never  used.  She 
hastened  to  Kensington  to  protest,  and  three  stormy  inter- 
views ensued,  "  in  the  last  of  which  the  insolence  of  the 
duchess  broke  the  last  hold  on  the  affections  of  Anne." 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  305 

When  the  Prince  lay  dying  on  October  28,  she  intruded 
as  Mistress  of  the  Robes  into  the  room.  "  Withdraw," 
commanded  the  heart-broken  wife.  Sarah  had  the  grace 
to  retire,  but  only  into  the  background.  "  I  was  in  the 
room,"  she  wrote,  "when  he  died  and  led  her  into  her  closet 
at  Kensington."  Shortly  afterwards  she  carried  Anne  off  in 
her  private  carriage  to  St.  James's. 

The  rupture  which  had  taken  place  in  the  friendship  of 
Mrs.  Morley  and  Mrs.  Freeman  was  never  healed,  and 
the  final  interview  between  them,  on  April  6,  1710,  occurred 
at  Kensington  Palace,  it  is  said,  in  Queen  Anne's  private 
dining-room.  Sarah  had  written  the  following  letter  to 
the  queen  : — "  I  am  glad  that  your  Majesty  is  going  to 
Kensington  to  make  use  of  the  fresh  air,  and  to  take  care 
of  your  health.  I  will  follow  you  thither  and  wait  every  day 
till  it  is  convenient  to  you  to  see  me,  as  what  I  have  to  say 
is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  require  no  answer." 

"  I  followed  my  letter  to  Kensington  so  soon  that  her 
Majesty  could  not  write  another  harsh  letter,  which  I  found 
she  intended.  I  sent  a  page  of  the  backstairs  to  acquaint 
her  Majesty  I  was  there."  At  the  interview  which  ensued, 
"  she  .  .  .  repeated  the  same  thing  over  and  over  again 
that  I  might  put  what  I  had  to  say  in  writing.  '  You  said 
you  desire  no  answ'er  and  I  shall  give  you  none.'  Sarah : 
'  I  was  confident  her  Majesty  would  suffer  for  such  an 
instance  of  inhumanity.'  The  queen  answered,  '  That  will 
be  to  myself.'  And  thus  ended,"  says  the  duchess,  "  this 
remarkable  conversation,  the  last  I  ever  had  with  her 
Majesty." 

After  this  Queen  Anne,  "jealous  of  again  being  subject  to 
the  dominion  of  a  single  favourite,  which  had  been  so  severely 
exercised  by  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough,  now  divided  her 

R.P.  X 


3o6      ROYAL   PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 


confidence  betwixt  Mrs.  Masham,  the  patroness  of  the  Tories, 
and  the  Duchess  of  Somerset,  who  was  inclined  towards  the 
opposite  faction,  and  with  the  petty  craft  of  a  weak  mind, 
amused  herself  by  balancing  the  strength  of  contending 
parties  against  each  other,  in  order  that  both  might  be 
sensible  of  their  dependence  on  her  personal  favour." 

Of  the  writers  of  that  time  who  were  visitors  at  Kensington 
Palace,  Addison  and  Steele  ranked  among  the  Whigs;  Swift, 
Prior,  and  Bolingbroke  among  the  Tories.  Swift  describes 
Anne  as  sitting  "  in  a  circle  of  twenty  visitors  with  her  fan  in 
her  mouth,  saying  about  three  words  once  a  minute  to  those 
near  her,  and  then,  upon  hearing  that  dinner  was  ready, 
going  out."  For  Anne  was  much  addicted  to  the  pleasures 
of  the  table,  and  both  she  and  her  husband  are  said  to  have 
become  restless  if  ministers  lingered  after  six,  their  customary 
dinner-hour. 

She  had  beautiful  hands  and  a  sweet  voice,  but  her  mind 
was  without  cultivation  ;  her  one  accomplishment  was  music ; 
her  favourite  recreation,  cards.  A  card-table  of  hers,  rescued 
from  a  lumber-room  at  Hampton  Court  Palace,  where  care- 
less hands  used  the  inside  of  it  for  a  palette,  now  stands  in 
Queen  Mary's  prixy  chamber.  It  is  considered  to  be  of 
old  Dutch  workmanship,  from  the  white  flowers  introduced 
into  the  decorative  work  on  the  outside ;  and  the  six  legs, 
two  of  which  can  be  closed  or  opened  out  as  required,  are 
beautifully  turned. 

On  August  4,  1713,  there  took  place  at  Kensington 
Palace  the  installation  of  the  Knights  of  the  Garter,  among 
whom  Harley  was  one,  which  was  the  last  Chapter  of  the 
Order  held  by  Queen  Anne.  A  representation  of  it  by  Peter 
Angelis  hangs  over  the  mantelpiece  in  her  private  dining- 
room. 


KENSINGTON    PALACr: 


-■;'7 


In  the  following  year  the  queen's  health  was  breaking 
visibly.  "  She  had  had  her  day,  one  long  day  of  warfare, 
and  as  it  faded  into  the  gloaming  there  was  still  the  din  of 
strife,  come  so  near  that  it  raged  around  her  very  walls."  In 
July  she  came  to  Kensington,  hoping  by  the  dismissal  of 
Harley  to  put  an  end  to  the  perpetual  quarrels  which 
took  place  between  him  and  Bolingbroke.  This  gave  rise 
to  fresh  dissension.  "  Who  would  succeed  Oxford  ?  "  At 
the  Council  "the  factions  railed  at  each  other,  indifferent  to 
the  presence  of  the  broken  woman,  haggard  and  bowed  with 
illness,  who  heard  in  silence  .  .  .  still  the  clamour  raged. 
To  Bolingbroke  the  chance  of  life  had  come,  and  for  all  of 
them  he  was  a  match  in  a  contest  of  wits,  their  match  in 
spirit  and  endurance.  The  summer  night  wore  on.  But 
night  and  day  were  the  same  to  the  reckless  gentleman  who 
dominated  the  Board,  unconscious  that  his  royal  mistress 
was  dying  before  his  eyes.  The  clock  chimed  one  .  .  •  then 
two.  The  queen's  eyes  were  bent  imploringly  upon  them. 
If  only  they  would  desist.  .  .  .  But  what  cared  they  ?  .  .  . 
The  room  faded  from  her  vision.  The  angry  faces,  the 
voices  were  far  away.  And  Anne  lay  in  a  swoon  at  the  feet 
of  her  unruly  councillors."^ 

"  Gentle  hands  carried  the  queen  to  her  bed-chamber  to 
die."  As  she  neared  her  last  moments  the  Council  was  again 
assembled  at  Kensington  Palace.  The  Dukes  of  Somerset 
and  Argyll  broke  into  the  Council  Chamber,  without  a 
summons,  and  disconcerted  the  measures  of  the  Tories. 
The  whole  party  proceeded  to  the  queen's  bed-chamber. 
She  was  sensible,  though  very  weak,  and,  at  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  lords,  gave  the  white  staff  to  Shrewsbury,  bidding 
him  use  it  for  the  good  of  her  people. 

*  Ryan  :  Queen  Anne  and  her  Court,  714. 

X    2 


3o8      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

The  administration  of  the  government  was  invested  in 
seven  regents  until  the  arrival  of  George  I.  **  In  achieving 
his  mastery  Bolingbroke  effected  his  own  ruin,  assured  the 
ruin  of  the  Stuarts  and  laid  the  queen  upon  her  death-bed." 
"  When  she  died  a  packet  was  found  upon  her  pillow.  It 
was  perhaps  the  precious  document  which  enshrined  her 
wishes.  But  its  only  influence  upon  the  destiny  of  England 
was  the  slender  column  of  smoke,  which  ascended  from  the 
grate  of  the  Council  Chamber,  as  the  regents  solemnly  burnt 
to  ashes  its  unrecorded  message." 

Thus,  as  Thackeray  has  vividly  portrayed  in  Esmond,  was 
Kensington  Palace  "  the  last  serious  battle-ground  of  the 
Stuart  cause." 

Anne  died  on  August  i,  and  her  body  lay  in  state  for 
three  weeks  before  it  was  removed,  beneath  a  purple  canopy, 
for  burial. 

Leigh  Hunt  describes  her  successor  as  "  a  short,  round- 
featured,  ease-loving,  selfish,  dull  man ;  not  ill-natured, 
where  not  thwarted,  but  capable  of  hating  stubbornly."  He 
"  could  not  speak  English,  never  cared  to  learn  it ;  cared 
in  fact  for  nothing  but  his  ease  and  his  German  division." 
George,  when  in  England,  lived  at  Kensington  Palace  with 
his  German  favourites,  but  was  scarcely  ever  seen,  so  secluded 
was  the  life  which  he  led. 

He  was  no  patron  of  Wren,  who  was  driven  from  his 
office  as  surveyor-general  in  1718  by  the  underhand  influence 
of  those  who  were  intriguing  against  him.  The  work  of 
erecting  a  further  suite  of  state  rooms  at  Kensington  Palace 
was  entrusted  about  1721  to  William  Kent.  During  the 
next  two  years  or  so  he  built  the  three  large  rooms  known 
as  Queen  Caroline's  drawing-room,  the  cube  room,  and  the 
king's  drawing-room.       These  are  sandwiched   in   between 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  309 

Wren's  earlier  and  later  work  for  William  III.  and  form 
a  good  specimen  of  the  style  of  building  and  decoration 
which  came  into  vogue  in  England  under  the  first  two 
Georges. 

"  Kent  was  then  the  only  oracle  ;  and  such  was  his 
reputation,  that  he  was  applied  to  by  all  who  were  emulous 
for  distinction,  by  an  ostentatious  display  of  their  conse- 
quence or  wealth.  He  not  only  projected  alterations  in 
their  mansions,  and  metamorphised  their  pleasure-grounds 
and  gardens,  but  changed  the  fashions  of  their  chairs  and 
tables  and  gave  new  designs  for  picture  and  glass  frames 
and  other  furniture;  he  new-modelled  their  plate,  and  even 
ladies  of  rank  consulted  his  tasteful  fancy  for  the  design  of 
their  court-dresses."^ 

The  ceilings  of  these  rooms  were  also  painted  by  Kent 
between  1722  and  1725.  It  seems  that,  in  virtue  of  his  office 
as  serjeant-painter.  Sir  James  Thornhill  was  entitled  to 
undertake  this  work,  and  from  a  "  Memorial  of  Sir  Thomas 
Hewett,  Surveyor-General,"  to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury', 
dated  February  14,  1722-23,  it  was  evidently  King  George's 
first  intention  to  have  employed  him.  Negotiations  went  so 
far  that  Hewett  ordered  a  model  to  be  made  for  the  ceiling 
of  the  great  square  room  which  Thornhill  painted  and  of 
which  the  king  approved. 

In  all  these  gaudy  ceilings  Kent  shows  himself  at  his  very 
worst,  for  as  an  artist  his  powers  seem  to  have  been  essen- 
tially mediocre,  especially  in  pictorial  painting.  Some  of 
the  plainer  decorative  work  which  is  introduced  now  and 
again  is  much  more  satisfactory.  For  painting  and  gilding 
the  sides  of  the  cube  room  Kent  received  the  sum  of 
£344  2S.  7d. 

Pyne  :  Kensington  Palace,  34. 


3IO      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

The  ceiling  of  the  presence  chamber  was  also  painted  by 
Kent  in  1724,  in  bright  reds  and  blues  with  gilding  on  a 
white  ground,  in  preference  to  the  plain  light  colouring  which 
it  no  doubt  previously  had.  The  doors  and  windows  in  this 
room  are  also  Kent's,  and  the  great  contrast  between  his 
work  and  Wren's  in  these  details  is  especially  apparent  in 
this  smaller  room.  The  hand  of  Wren  is  still  visible,  how- 
ever, in  the  chimneypiece  and  overmantel  (though  the 
Gibbons  carving  has  had  to  be  painted  over  to  preserve 
it),  in  the  beautiful  carved  oak  cornice  and  the  panelled 
dado. 

The  king's  gallery  was  a  favourite  sitting-room  with 
George  I.,  as  it  had  been  with  Queen  Anne  and  Prince 
George,  and  his  Majesty  commanded  the  Lords  of  the 
Treasury  to  give  the  order  for  painting  its  ceiling  with  those 
of  the  great  and  httle  closets  and  the  staircase  to  William 
Kent.  At  the  same  time,  September  30,  1725,  a  letter  was 
forwarded,  addressed  by  James  Thornhill  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Works,  stating  that  he  was  informed  that  they 
had  received  instructions  to  employ  some  improper  person 
to  do  the  gilding  on  the  wainscot  in  the  gallery  at  Ken- 
sington. As  gilding  had  always  been  done  by  his  pre- 
decessors and  himself,  he  thinks  that  it  is  a  great  encroach- 
ment on  their  office,  as  well  as  on  his  patent,  and  those 
who  shall  succeed  him.  An  entry  in  the  Treasury  Minute 
Book  under  the  date  of  October  5  runs  :  "  The  gilding 
on  the  wainscot  is  to  be  performed  by  Sir  James  Thorn- 
hill,  king's  painter,  whose  office  it  is  to  perform  works  of 
that  nature." 

So  the  ceiling  was  painted  by  Kent,  as  it  appears  now, 
with  his  usual  rich  colouring  and  gilding  and  poorness  of 
design  and  ornamentation ;  and  the  beautiful  carving  over 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  311 

the  doorways  and  on  the  cornices  was  gilded  over,  to  remain 
so  for  a  hundred  and  seventy-four  years. 

The  king's  grand  staircase  is  a  further  example  of  Wren's 
work,  on  which  Kent's  decorative  hand  has  lain  heavily. 
The  staircase  itself  with  its  beautiful  proportions  ;  the  black 
marble  steps ;  the  black  and  white  chequered  marble  land- 
ings ;  Tijou's  wrought-iron  balustrade,  painted  blue,  with  its 
oak  rail,  are  now  as  when  they  were  finished  by  Wren  about 
1696.  The  arcade  under  the  landing  leading  to  the  king's 
gallery,  the  windows,  the  painted  walls  and  ceiling,  were 
completed  for  George  I.  by  Kent  about  1726.  As  usual,  the 
effect  of  the  colour  decoration  is  rich  and  sumptuous,  but  the 
subject  treatment  does  not  bear  inspection  ;  and  the  purely 
decorative  work,  which  sho\vs  Kent  at  his  best,  on  the  arcade 
and  on  the  walls  beside  the  first  flight  of  stairs  and  landing 
cannot  now  be  seen  to  advantage  by  the  ordinary  visitor. 

The  gardens  at  Kensington  were  carefully  looked  after 
under  George  I.  and  became  a  great  source  of  interest  to 
Addison,  who  married  Charlotte,  the  widow  of  the  sixth 
Earl  of  Holland,  in  1716,  and  lived  at  Holland  House  until  his 
death  in  1719. 

Macky  notes  in  his  Journey  Through  England,  published  in 
1722,  that  "  Kensington  was  a  small  poor  village  until  the 
Court  came  there  ;  but  now  it  is  become  a  large  town,  and 
in  its  square  are  houses  fit  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
greatest  quality.  The  gardens  of  this  palace  are  very  fine, 
and  charmingly  kept." 

During  this  reign  commenced  the  fashionable  promenade 
in  Kensington  Gardens  which  became  a  feature  of  the  next 
three  reigns.  The  Court  of  Prince  George  and  Princess 
Caroline  included  "the  most  promising  of  young  lords  and 
gentlemen  and  the  prettiest  and  livehest  of  young  ladies." 


312      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


These  apparently  set  the  fashion  of  which  Tickell,  the  friend 
of  Addison,  writes  : — 

The  dames  of  Britain  oft  in  crowds  repair 
To  groves  and  lawns,  and  unpolluted  air, 
Here,  while  the  town  in  damps  and  darkness  lies, 
They  breathe  in  sunshine,  and  see  azure  skies. 

On  the  accession  of  George  IL  in  1727  Kensington  Palace 
became  the  favourite  summer  residence  of  the  king  and  queen. 
Their  portraits  hang  in  Queen  Mary's  gallery  and  in  her  privy 
chamber.  He,  "shorter  than  his  short  father,  smart,  strut- 
ting, decided-looking,  with  higher  features  and  an  under- 
hanging  jaw,  was  fond  of  being  seen."  He  was  the  "same 
petty  German  martinet"  as  his  father  had  been,  "less  dull, 
but  hardly  better  informed."  Caroline  was  "  a  fine-looking 
woman  with  red  and  white  complexion  and  popular  manners." 
"  Her  voice  was  melodious,  her  hands  beautifully  formed,  her 
actions  graceful."  Resolute,  serene  and  dignified,  yet  gay 
at  heart  and  with  a  ready  appreciation  of  humour  and  marked 
conversational  abilities,  her  mental  qualifications  were  above 
the  average. 

"  As  soon  as  ever  the  prince  became  king,"  writes  Lord 
Hervey,  the  Boswell  of  the  Court  of  George  II.  and  Queen 
Caroline  minus  his  good  nature,  "  the  whole  world  began  to 
find  out  that  her  will  was  the  sole  spring  on  which  every 
movement  in  Court  turned  :  and  though  his  Majesty  lost  no 
opportunity  to  declare  that  the  queen  never  meddled  with 
his  business,  yet  nobody  was  simple  enough  to  believe  it  .  .  . 
Her  power  was  unrivalled  and  unbounded."  ^  "  She  always  at 
first  gave  into  all  his  notions,  though  never  so  extravagant, 
and  made  him  imagine  any  change  she  wrought  in  them  to 

1  Hervey:  Memoirs  (ed.  1848),  i.,  59. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  313 

be  an  afterthought  of  his  own.  To  contradict  his  will  direct, 
was  always  the  way  to  strengthen  it ;  and  to  labour  to 
convert  was  to  confirm  him."  ^ 

Of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  little  need  be  said.  "  He 
had  disagreed  with  the  king  and  queen,"  says  Horace 
Walpole,  "  early  after  coming  to  England ;  not  entirely  by 
his  own  fault.  The  king  had  refused  to  pay  his  debts  in 
Hanover,  and  it  ran  a  little  in  the  blood  of  the  family  to  hate 
the  eldest  son."  ..."  The  queen  had  exerted  more  authority, 
joined  to  a  narrow  prying  into  his  condition,  than  he  liked ; 
and  Princess  Emily,  who  had  been  admitted  into  his  greatest 
confidence,  had  not  forfeited  her  duty  to  the  queen  by  con- 
cealing any  of  his  secrets  that  might  do  him  prejudice." 

"  One  of  his  modes  of  annoying  his  mother  at  Kensington 
was  by  coming  too  late  to  chapel,  and  making  his  wife, 
instead  of  entering  by  another  door,  squeeze  to  her  seat, 
between  the  queen  and  her  prayer-book.  .  .  .  Looking  out, 
one  day,  from  a  window  in  Kensington  Palace,  and  seeing 
the  title-hunter,  Bubb  Doddington,  go  by,  he  said,  '  That 
man  is  reckoned  one  of  the  most  sensible  men  in  England  ; 
and  yet,  with  all  his  cleverness,  I  have  just  nicked  him  out 
of  ;^5,ooo.'  "  2 

The  daughters  of  George  II.,  whose  portraits  as  children 
find  their  place  near  those  of  their  father  and  mother,  are 
Anne,  Princess  Royal,  and  the  Princess  Emily  or  Amelia. 
It  was  the  misfortune  of  the  former  princess  "  to  be  vain 
without  cause,  imperious  without  being  dignified,  and  to  be 
ambitious  without  the  means  of  gratifying  this  passion." 
The  Princess  Amelia  had  good  intellectual  powers,  and  was 
extremely  popular  as  a  girl,  but  her  character  appears  to 

1  Hervey:  Memoirs  (ed.  1848),  i.,  59. 

"^  Leigh  Hunt :  Old  Court  Suburb,  ii.,  126,  127  (cd.  1902). 


314      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

have  deteriorated  in  the  cramped  atmosphere  of  the  Court, 
and  she  is  said  to  have  become  inquisitive,  gossiping,  and 
impertinent. 

George  I.  had  left  the  business  of  the  State  almost  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole  ;  and  with  the  consistent 
support  of  Queen  Caroline,  this  strong  statesman  (whose 
portrait  hangs  in  Queen  Mary's  gallery)  was  able  to  leave 
the  impression  of  his  common  sense  on  the  policy  of 
England  for  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  reign  of  George  IL 
Much  manoeuvring  was  required  on  the  part  of  the  queen  and 
the  minister  to  humour  the  king,  whose  temper  could  never  be 
depended  upon  for  any  length  of  time,  and  in  consequence 
Kensington  Palace  was  the  scene  of  many  diplomatic 
interviews. 

Queen  Caroline  was  fond  of  philosophical  discussions,  and 
three  portraits  in  Queen  Mary's  privy  chamber  are  remi- 
niscent of  her  taste  in  this  respect— those  of  John  Locke, 
Robert  Boyle,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  Kneller's  portrait  of 
John  Locke,  painted  in  the  later  years  of  the  philosopher's 
life,  when  he  suffered  much  from  asthma,  ranks  as  one  of  the 
artist's  best  works.  Boyle  devoted  his  life  to  the  advance  of 
scientific  research  and  to  the  promotion  of  the  Christian 
religion.  He  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Royal 
Society  and  the  founder  of  the  Boyle  Lectures.  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  lived  in  Kensington  in  his  old  age,  and  Queen 
Caroline  often  conversed  with  him  for  hours  together.  She 
said  that  she  thought  it  a  happiness  to  have  lived  at  the 
same  time  with  and  to  have  known  so  great  a  man. 

Handel  was  music-master  to  the  Princess  Royal,  and  both 
the  king  and  queen  gave  him  their  patronage,  often  going 
to  the  Haymarket  to  hear  his  music,  the  king  subscribing 
£i,ooo  a  year  towards  its  performance  in  public. 


KENSINGTON    IWLACE  315 

The  poets  Pope  and  Gay  were  familiar  with  the  Court  at 
Kensington.  The  latter  wrote  his  fables  for  the  instruction 
of  the  youncj  Duke  of  Cumberland.  In  his  "  Welcome  from 
Greece,"  addressed  to  Pope,  he  refers  to  many  of  the  Court 
ladies  by  name. 

Ah,  those  are  Wortley's  eyes, 
Now  to  my  heart  the  glance  of  Howard  flies. 
Now  Hervey,  fair  of  face,  I  mark  full  well 
With  thee,  Youth's  youngest  daughter,  sweet  Lepell. 

For  among  these  ladies  were  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague, 
Mrs.  Howard,  later  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  and  Mary  Lepell, 
who  afterwards  married  Lord  Hervey,  one  of  the  victims  of 
Pope's  merciless  satire. 

Other  well-known  ladieswere  Margaret  and  Mary  Bellenden, 
the  latter  of  whom  reproved  the  king  for  his  avarice,  and 
Anne  Pitt,  the  sister  of  Lord  Chatham. 

Yonder  I  see  the  cheerful  Duchess  stand, 

For  friendship,  zeal  and  blithe  humours  known. 

When  Gay  lost  the  queen's  favour  by  seeking  the  patronage  of 
the  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  his  friend  the  Duchess  of  Queens- 
bury  collected  subscriptions  for  his  Beggar  s  Opera  at  Court, 
and  even  asked  the  king  for  one.  For  this  she  was  forbidden 
to  appear  at  Court,  and  wrote  to  say  that  she  had  never 
received  "  so  agreeable  a  command  as  to  stay  from  Court, 
where  she  never  came  for  diversion,  but  to  bestow  a  great 
civility  on  the  king  and  queen." 

Pope  congratulated  Gay  on  his  release  from  Court  favour, 
as  "  happily  rid  of  many  .  .  .  ills  and  vicious  habits,  of  which 
few  or  no  men  escape  the  infection  who  are  hackneyed  .  .  . 
in  the  ways  of  a  Court.  Princes,  indeed,  and  peers  (the 
lackeys  of  princes)  and  ladies  (the  fools  of  peers)  will  smile  on 


3i6      ROYAL    PALACES   OF    ENGLAND 

you  the  less,  but  men  of  worth  and  real  friends  will  look  on 
you  the  better." 

Kensington  Gardens  were  open  to  the  public  on  Saturdays, 
when  the  Court  was  at  Richmond,  and  saw  "  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  wigs,  coats,  cocked-hats,  hoop  petticoats." 
"  Head-dresses  rose  and  fell  in  all  the  fluctuations  ofpiled-up 
and  flowing  hair  ;  of  ringlets,  plain  and  powdered ;  of  lappets, 
laces,  ribbons,  feathers,  commodes,  hoods,  bonnets  and  mob- 
caps.  Their  colours  were  of  the  brightest  and  most  blooming 
kind.  The  fan  was  in  constant  requisition ;  and  muffs 
increased  from  small  to  great  "  .  .  .  "  flounce  and  furbelow," 
"spots  and  patches,"  "the  great  glory  .  .  .  was  the  hoop."  ^ 

"  They  are  coming  up  the  great  high  roadstead  of 
Kensington  Gardens  between  Bayswater  and  the  town ; 
the  gentlemen  beholders  dying  by  hundreds  in  their  swords 
and  perriwigs,  with  their  hats  under  their  arms.  .  .  .  They 
are  of  all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  .  .  .  and  Pope,  who 
is  looking  from  one  of  the  palace  windows  with  Dr.  Mead, 
sees  the  spirits  of  his  '  Rape '  fillip  the  jewels  in  their 
ears  to  make  them  tremble  in  the  sun." 

It  seems  to  have  been  under  the  influence  of  Kent,  "  the 
father  of  modern  landscape  gardening,"  and  later  under 
that  of  Bridgman  and  other  fashionable  gardeners  of  the  day, 
that  the  grounds  round  Kensington  Palace  assumed  their 
present  bare  and  uninteresting  appearance.  The  greater  part 
of  these  alterations  was  carried  out  between  the  years  1727 
and  1730,  during  which  period  Bridgman  received  upwards 
of  £5,000  for  "works  in  the  paddock  and  gardens  at 
Kensington."  Tigers,  civet  cats,  and  East  Indian  birds  were 
kept  in  the  paddock  by  George  I.,  but  the  wild  animals  were 

^  There  are  two  prints  in  the  Jerningham  Collection:  "Taste  a  la 
Mode,"  1735;  "View  of  the  Mall,"  1752. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  317 

afterwards  removed  to  the  Tower,  when  a  two  years'  bill  for 
meat  supplied  to  them  was  owing  to  Henry  Lowman,  butcher. 
The  great  basin,  now  called  the  Round  Pond,  covering  about 
nine  acres,  was  filled  with  water  from  Midsummer,  1728. 

Queen  Caroline  was  keenly  interested  in  the  craze  for 
planning  and  "improving"  gardens,  and  it  was  at  her 
direction  that  the  whole  of  the  ground  between  the  palace 
gardens  and  Hyde  Park,  and  possibly  a  further  enclosure  from 
the  park  itself,  was  laid  out  with  plantations  of  elms, 
divided  by  gravel  walks  and  grassy  vistas,  which  still 
remain  a  feature  of  Kensington  Garden.  The  fosse  or 
ha-ha  was  constructed  close  to  Hyde  Park,  and  the  Serpen- 
tine formed  between  1730  and  1733,  by  the  union  of  six 
ponds  left  by  the  West  Bourne  in  its  meanderings  towards 
the  Thames.  All  these  works  were  carried  out  by  Charles 
Bridgman,  gardener  to  the  king. 

Queen  Caroline  possessed  fine  taste  in  art,  and  she  was 
fond  of  arranging  and  rearranging  the  pictures  in  the  state 
rooms  at  Kensington  Palace.  In  1728  she  found  in  a  bureau 
in  the  king's  great  closet  a  number  of  drawings  and  prints, 
including  some  of  Holbein's  drawings  of  the  people  of  his 
day,  most  of  which  were  named  at  the  back  in  an  old  court- 
hand.  It  is  not  known  how  they  came  to  be  there,  but  they 
once  belonged  to  King  Charles  I.  and  were  given  by  Lord 
Pembroke  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  whose  collection  became 
dispersed  after  his  death.  There  are  two  lists  of  these 
drawings  in  the  British  Museum,  in  one  of  which  those 
delivered  for  the  queen's  use  are  marked  with  a  cross. 
These  were  hung  up  by  her  orders  in  her  dressing-room 
and  closet. 

Meanwhile  the  Court  life  at  Kensington  Palace  went  on  in 
the  accustomed  round.     Lord  Hervey  wrote  to  Mrs.  Clayton, 


3i8      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

afterwards  Lady  Sundon,  on  July  31,  1733  :  "  No  mill- 
horse  ever  went  in  a  more  constant  track,  or  in  a  more 
unchanging  circle,  so  that  by  the  assistance  of  an  almanack 
for  the  day  of  the  week  and  a  watch  for  the  hour  of  the  day, 
you  may  inform  yourself  fully,  without  any  other  intelligence 
but  your  memory,  of  every  transaction  within  the  verge  of  the 
Court.  Walking,  chaises,  levees  and  audiences  fill  the 
morning ;  and  at  night  the  king  plays  at  commerce  and 
backgammon  and  the  queen  at  quadrille,  where  poor  Lady 
Charlotte  [governess  to  the  younger  children  of  George  II.] 
runs  her  usual  nightly  gauntlet — the  queen  pulling  her 
hood  .  .  .  and  the  Princess  Royal  rapping  her  knuckles,  all 
at  a  time."^ 

It  was  from  Kensington  that  the  king  usually  took  his 
departure  for  Hanover,  and  in  his  absence  the  queen  held  a 
Court  at  the  palace  every  Sunday.  During  his  passage  in  1733 
a  dreadful  storm  raged,  and  the  queen  and  the  royal  family 
waited  in  suspense  for  several  days,  before  hearing  of  his  safe 
arrival  at  Helvoetsluys.  The  bearer  of  good  tidings  was  pre- 
sented with  a  purse  containing  sixty  guineas,  and  the  queen 
received  congratulations  at  Kensington  from  the  nobility, 
gentry,  and  public  bodies. 

In  1734  the  Princess  Royal,  who  had  been  married  in  the 
previous  year  to  the  Prince  of  Orange  (of  whom  Princess 
Emily  said  that  nothing  on  earth  should  have  induced  her  to 
marry  the  monster),  paid  a  long  visit  to  her  family  at  Ken- 
sington Palace.  "  The  queen  was  miost  unaffectedly  con- 
cerned to  part  with  her  daughter,"  and  she  was  found  later 
with  the  Princess  Caroline,  who  seems  to  have  been  of  a  more 
amiable  disposition  than  her  elder  sisters,  "drinking  chocolate, 

^  Sundon:  Memoirs,  ii.,  231. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  319 

drowned  in  tears  and  choked  with  si^^hs."  A  day  or  two  later 
the  Princess  of  Oranf^e  returned  to  Kcnsinj^ton,  on  receipt  of 
letters  from  The  Hague,  and  **  the  queen  received  her  with  a 
thousand  kisses  and  tears  of  joy,  the  king  with  smiles  and 
open  arms." 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  some  North  American  Indians, 
consisting  of  "  two  war  captains,  three  chiefs,  the  queen  and 
a  boy,"  were  received  by  the  king  in  the  room  next  the 
guard-room  ;  by  the  queen  in  the  long  gallery,  attended  by 
all  the  ladies  at  Court ;  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the 
princesses  in  their    respective  apartments. 

Walcot  relates  how  Dr.  Wilson,  the  apostolic-minded 
Bishop  of  Sodor  and  Man,  came  for  the  last  time  to  England 
in  1735,  when  over  seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  presented  to 
the  king  at  Kensington.  "He  entered  the  royal  chamber  with 
a  small  black  coif  on  his  head,  his  hair  flowing  and  silvery,  his 
shoes  unbuckled,  and  fastened  with  thongs  of  leather.  So 
venerable  did  he  seem  that  the  king  moved  forth  instinctively 
from  the  glittering  circle  of  courtiers,  and  taking  the  bishop's 
hand,  begged  his  prayers.  Queen  Caroline  would  have  forced 
a  wealthy  bishopric  upon  him.  'Nay,  please  your  Majesty,' 
replied  he,  *  in  my  old  age,  should  I  leave  my  first  love 
because  she  is  poor.'  " 

When  the  king  was  in  a  bad  temper,  as  frequently  happened, 
and  notably  on  his  return  from  Hanover  in  1735,  scenes  such 
as  the  following  would  take  place.  "  Next  morning  he  stayed 
about  five  minutes  in  the  gallery,  snubbed  the  queen,  who 
was  drinking  chocolate,  for  being  always  stuffing ;  Princess 
Emily  for  not  hearing  him  ;  Princess  Caroline  for  being  grown 
fat  ;  the  duke  [of  Cumberland]  for  standing  awkwardly  ; 
Lord  Hervey  for  not  knowing  what  relation  the  Prince  of 
Sultzbach  was  to  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  then  carried  the 


320      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

queen  to  walk  and  be  re-snubbed  in  the  garden."  "The  king, 
instead  of  answering  Lord  Hervey,  then  turned  to  the  queen 
and  with  a  good  deal  of  vehemence,  poured  out  an  unin- 
telligible torrent  of  German,  to  which  the  queen  made  not 
one  word  of  reply,  but  knotted  on  till  she  tangled  her  thread, 
then  snuffed  the  candles  that  stood  on  the  table  before  her, 
and  snuffed  one  of  them  out ;  upon  which  the  king  in  English 
began  a  new  dissertation  upon  her  Majesty,  and  took  her 
awkwardness  for  his  text." 

Queen  Caroline  died  in  1737,  much  regretted  by  the  nation 
at  large  and  by  those  who  knew  her  intimately.  In  spite  of 
the  utterly  selfish  way  in  which  he  treated  her,  no  one  ever 
succeeded  in  gaining  over  her  husband  the  influence  which 
she  had  exerted.     This  gave  rise  to  the  popular  adage : 

You  may  strut,  dapper  George,  but  'twill  all  be  in  vain  ; 
We  know  'tis  Queen  Caroline,  not  you,  that  reign. 

He  lived  on  quietly  after  the  death  of  his  queen  in  much 
the  same  way  as  he  had  done  before.  When  the  news 
reached  Kensington  of  the  landing  of  the  Pretender,  "  Is  it 
so,  my  lords  and  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "take  care  of  your- 
selves, but  for  me,  it  is  my  resolution  to  live  and  die  King  of 
England." 

George  II.,  in  his  old  age,  is  the  monarch  to  whom 
Thackeray  sends  George  Warrington  to  pay  his  respects  at 
Kensington  Palace,  on  which  occasion  George  is  also 
introduced  to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  hero  of 
Culloden. 

On  October  25,  1760,  the  king  "  seemed  as  usual,  drank 
some  chocolate,  enquired  about  the  wind,  as  if  anxious  for 
the  arrival  of  the  mails  .  .  .  said  he  would  walk  in  the 
garden."  Later  a  heavy  fall  brought  his  attendants  to  his 
side.     On  being  carried  to  his  bed,  he  rallied  sufficiently  to 


y. 

c 


y.  > 


ki<:nsington  pai.aci-:  321 


ask  for  the  Princess  Amelia,  but  before  she  could  reach  him 
he  had  passed  away. 

With  the  accession  of  George  III.  Kensington  Palace  lost 
the  splendour  which  it  had  acquired  as  one  of  the  favourite 
residences  of  the  reigning  monarch.  For  the  sixty  years  of 
his  reign  the  state  rooms  remained  unoccupied,  but  other- 
wise much  as  they  had  done  in  the  time  of  Queen  Caroline, 
with  the  same  pictures  still  on  the  walls,  which  visitors 
came  from  time  to  time  to  see,  as  Pyne's  illustrations  serve 
to  show. 

The  pictures  which  now  hang  in  the  state  drawing-rooms, 
being  mostly  illustrative  of  George  III.,  his  family  and 
contemporaries,  seem  on  that  account  to  have  no  vital 
connection  with  the  rooms  themselves.  They  serve,  how- 
ever, to  bridge  the  historical  gap  between  George  II.  and 
Victoria.  One  or  two  show  good  work,  as,  for  instance, 
those  of  Madame  de  Pompadour  and  Marianne,  Duchess  of 
Bourbon,  but  most  of  them  gain  their  attraction  only  from 
being  portraits  of  historical  personages.  The  collection  of 
West's  pictures  forms  a  striking  illustration  of  the  style  in 
art  which  gained  for  him  in  his  day  the  liberal  patronage  of 
his  king,  the  plaudits  of  the  public,  and  the  esteem  of  his 
fellow  artists.  His  portraits,  however  open  they  may  be  to 
criticism  from  a  modern  standpoint,  are  still  interesting  in 
themselves. 

There  is  a  portrait  painted  for  King  George  III.,  which 
hangs  in  Queen  Mary's  gallery,  of  Mrs.  Delany  in  her  old 
age.  She,  once  the  lively  and  attractive  Mary  Granville, 
whose  memoirs  give  an  amusing  and  interesting  picture 
the  society  of  her  time,  had  a  wonderful  capacity  for 
making  friends,  which  secured  for  her  the  firm  friendship 
of  Queen  Charlotte.  In  reference  to  this  picture,  Horace 
R.P.  Y 


322      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Walpole  writes  in  one  of  his  letters  of  "  a  new  genius,  one 
Opie,  a  Cornish  lad,  who  had  taught  himself  to  colour  in  a 
strong,  bold,  masterly  manner.  He  has  done  a  head  of  Mrs. 
Delany  for  the  King — oui,  vraiment — it  is  pronounced  like 
Rembrandt ;  but  as  I  told  her,  it  does  not  look  older  than 
she  is,  but  older  than  she  does."  Another  writer  says  of  it, 
"  It  is  a  beautiful  and  expressive  old  face,  that  we  see  framed 
in  its  neat  cap  and  black  silk  hood,  and  bears  the  sweet  and 
placid  impress  of  a  fine  old  age.  You  say  to  yourself,  as  you 
gaze  at  it,  '  How  very  like  it  must  have  been.'  " 

Although  the  presence  of  the  Court  at  Kensington  Palace 
no  longer  occasioned  the  lamps  placed  at  equal  distances  on 
each  side  of  the  grand  avenue  leading  to  it  from  St.  James's 
through  Hyde  Park  to  be  lighted  up  at  night,  with  a 
magnificence  which  has  impressed  more  than  one  writer, 
Kensington  Gardens  still  continued  to  attract  the  fashionable 
world.  Under  certain  regulations,  they  were  now  opened  to 
the  public  every  day. 

"We  may  still  fancy  all  that  was  brilliant  and  fashionable, 
or  in  any  manner  distinguished,  good  or  bad,  in  the  successive 
generations  of  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the 
first  two  decades  of  the  nineteenth,  making  its  first  appear- 
ance as  such  in  Kensington  Great  Walk,  delighting  the 
scientific  eyes  of  drapers  and  mantua-makers,  and  attracting 
crowds  of  adorers  from  the  city." 

The  French  Revolution  brought  to  Kensington  a  number 
of  the  emigrSs,  some  of  whom  are  said  to  have  obtained  leave 
to  hold  religious  services  in  Queen  Anne's  alcove.  The 
more  distinguished  of  them  were  frequently  seen  in  the 
gardens,  "  and  none  of  them  know  what  to  make  of  ex-bishop 
Talleyrand,  who  represents  all  parties  by  turns." 

"  In  179 1  there  may  have  been  seen  in  one  day  Wilkes 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  323 

and  Wilberforce ;  Burke,  Warren  Hastings  and  Thomas 
Paine  ;  Horace  Walpole  and  Hannah  More  ;  Mrs.  Barbauld, 
Mrs.  Trimmer,  and  Emma  Harte." 

So  great  was  the  crush  at  the  only  entrance  which  gave 
access  to  the  favoured  gardens  from  Hyde  Park  that  The 
Times  of  March  28,  1794,  comments :  "  The  ladies  fre- 
quently have  their  clothes  torn  to  pieces  ;  and  are  much 
hurt  by  the  crowd  passing  different  ways."  "Two  ladies 
were  lucky  enough  to  escape  through  the  gate  of  Kensington 
Gardens  on  Sunday  last  with  only  a  broken  arm  each."  The 
suggestion  given  by  the  great  newspaper,  that  there  should 
be  separate  entrances  for  admission  and  departure,  was 
adopted  by  the  ranger  of  Hyde  Park  during  the  next  season, 
and  the  improvement  commented  upon  in  the  issue  of 
May  4,  1795. 

"  The  fashion,  with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  broad- 
brimmed  hat,  worn  both  by  gentlemen  and  ladies,  comprised 
the  ugliest  ever  seen.  Head-dresses  became  monstrous 
compounds  of  pasteboard,  flowers,  feathers  and  pomatum  ; 
the  hoop  degenerated  into  little  panniers,  and  about  1770,  a 
set  of  travelled  fops  came  up,  calling  themselves  Macaronis 
.  .  .  who  wore  ridiculous  little  hats,  large  pigtails,  and  tight- 
fitting  clothes  of  striped  colours."^ 

Previously  to  1801  a  private  suite  of  apartments  was 
assigned  at  Kensington  Place  to  Edward,  Duke  of  Kent,  the 
fourth  son  of  George  HI.  Among  the  MSS.  of  the  Earl  of 
Dartmouth  are  several  letters  from  the  duke  to  Lord  Dart- 
mouth between  the  years  180 1  and  1805,  which  are  dated 
from  this  palace ;  one  is  in  reference  to  the  payment  of  the 
accounts  for  furniture  supplied  for  the  duke's  apartments  there. 

*  There  is  a  coloured  print,  "  Monstrosities  of  1822,"  on  one  of  the 
screens  in  the  Jerningham  Collection  in  the  king's  privy  chamber. 

Y    2 


324      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


In  1810  Caroline  of  Brunswick,  the  unfortunate  Princess 
of  Wales,  came  to  live  at  Kensington  Palace  and  occupied 
her  private  rooms  there  until  1814.  "  The  princess,"  writes 
one  of  her  ladies,  "  often  does  the  most  extraordinary  things, 
apparently  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  make  her  attendants 
stare.  Very  frequently  she  will  take  one  of  her  ladies  with 
her  to  walk  in  Kensington  Gardens,  .  .  .  dressed  [it  may  be] 
in  a  costume  very  unsuitable  to  the  public  highway ;  and  all 
of  a  sudden  she  will  bolt  out  of  one  of  the  smaller  gates  and 
walk  all  over  Bayswater  and  along  the  Paddington  Canal,  at 
the  risk  of  being  insulted,  or  if  known,  mobbed  ;  enjoying  the 
terror  of  the  unfortunate  attendant,  who  may  be  destined  to 
walk  after  her." 

The  princess  entertained  a  great  deal,  giving  balls  and 
parties  at  which  there  were  "  good  people  and  very  bad  ones, 
fine  ladies  and  fine  gentlemen,  humdrums  and  clever  people." 
Lady  Brownlow  remembered  her  at  this  time  as  fat  and 
somewhat  shapeless  in  figure,  with  well-formed  nose,  good 
complexion  and  bright  blue  eyes,  a  face  that  had  probably 
been  pretty  in  youth,  but  which  was  bold  in  expression, 
partly  caiused  by  the  quantity  of  rouge  which  she  wore. 
"  Her  fair  hair  hung  in  masses  of  curls  on  each  side  of  her 
throat,  like  a  lion's  mane."  "  Her  gowns  were  generally 
ornamented  with  gold  or  silver  spangles  and  her  satin  boots 
were  also  embroidered  with  them.  Sometimes  she  wore  a 
scarlet  mantle  with  gold  trimming,  hanging  from  the 
shoulders ;  and  as  she  swam,  so  attired,  down  an  English 
dance,  with  no  regard  to  figures,  the  effect  was  rather 
strange." 

In  1810  a  suite  of  rooms  at  Kensington  Palace  were 
also  set  aside  for  the  use  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  the  sixth 
son  of  George  III.;    and  by  1816  various  alterations  had 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  325 

been  slowly  effected  there  for  the  suitable  and  increased 
accommodation  of  those  members  of  the  royal  family, 
to  whom  the  right  of  residence  had  been  granted. 

In  1S15  the  Duke  of  Kent  was  obliged  to  leave 
England  owing  to  pecuniary  embarrassment.  From  the  time 
of  his  sojourn  in  Hanover  in  his  youth,  when  his  conduct 
seems  to  have  been  misrepresented  to  his  parents,  an 
insufficient  allowance  had  been  given  him  by  his  father 
which  caused  him  much  difficulty  all  through  his  life. 
Mr.  Holmes  writes  in  his  Life  of  Queen  Victoria,  "  as 
in  the  discharge  of  public  duties  he  set  an  example  of 
care  and  diligence,  so  in  private  life  he  was  a  pattern  of 
regularity  and  temperance."  He  was  "  not  a  favourite  with 
his  own  family,  but  he  was  the  most  popular  of  his  brothers 
outside  the  royal  circle."  He  had  served  with  his  regiment 
at  Gibraltar  and  in  Canada,  and  had  gained  the  reputation 
of  a  stern  disciplinarian,  but  ill-health  compelled  him  to 
give  up  the  profession  to  which  he  was  devoted.  Of 
enlightened  opinions  and  generous  in  disposition,  he  con- 
stantly took  the  chair  at  public  meetings  on  behalf  of 
progress  and  charity. 

In  iSiS  the  Duke  of  Kent  married  the  Princess  of 
Leiningen,  the  sister  of  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg, 
who  was  quietly  devoting  herself  to  the  education  of  her 
young  son,  the  Prince  of  Leiningen,  and  of  her  daughter, 
the  Princess  Feodore.  After  their  marriage  the  royal  couple 
lived  chiefly  in  Germany,  from  motives  of  economy  ;  but  in 
March  of  the  following  year,  as  the  duchess  herself  later 
said,  "  The  Duke  of  Kent,  at  much  inconvenience,  and  I  at 
great  personal  risk,  returned  to  England  that  our  child 
should  be  born  and  bred  a  Briton." 

They  settled  down  at  Kensington  Palace,  and  there,  two 


326      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

months  later,  was  born  the  little  girl  who  was  one  day  to 
become  the  good,  great,  and  glorious  Queen  and  Empress 
Victoria.  At  the  time  of  the  first  Jubilee  a  brass  plate 
was  put  up  in  the  room  beneath  the  king's  privy  chamber, 
bearing  these  words  :  In  this  room  Queen  Victoria  was  horn, 
May  24th,  i8ig. 

On  June  24  the  royal  golden  font  from  the  Tower  was 
fitted  up  in  the  grand  saloon  at  Kensington  Palace,  now 
known  as  the  cupola  or  cube  room,  with  crimson  velvet 
coverings  from  the  Chapel  Royal,  St.  James's  Palace.  The 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  baptized  the  infant  princess, 
giving  her  the  names  of  Alexandrina  Victoria,  the  fact  being 
recorded  at  the  close  of  the  ceremony  by  the  Bishop  of 
London  in  the  register  book  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  It  was 
at  first  intended  that  the  child  should  be  named  Georgiana, 
after  the  Prince  Regent,  who  was  one  of  her  sponsors. 
The  name  of  her  mother,  Victoria,  was  substituted  on  the 
prince's  refusal  to  allow  his  name  to  stand  second  to  that  of 
Alexander,  the  reigning  Czar,  who  was  also  sponsor  (by 
proxy). 

It  is  perhaps  interesting  to  note  that  the  Princess  Victoria 
was  the  first  member  of  the  royal  family  to  be  vaccinated, 
instead  of  being  inoculated. 

The  Duke  of  Kent  was  very  fond  of  his  little  daughter, 
and  never  seems  to  have  regretted  that  she  was  not  a  son, 
but  was  "  decidedly  of  opinion,"  as  he  himself  wrote,  "  that 
the  decrees  of  Providence  are  at  all  times  wisest  and  best." 
Baron  Stockmar  notes  in  his  Memoirs  that  the  Duke 
constantly  showed  her  to  his  intimate  friends,  with  the 
words  "Take  care  of  her,  for  she  will  be  Queen  of 
England." 

From   the  first  the  English  people  took  a  great  deal  of 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  327 

interest  in  their  future  queen.  On  fine  evenings  the  duke 
and  his  wife  would  often  walk  up  and  down  in  front  of  the 
palace  beneath  the  nursery  windows ;  and  on  Sunday 
evenings  especially,  numbers  of  people  would  stand  and 
watch  with  pleasure  the  smiles  and  infant  gestures  of  the 
babe  as  she  caught  sight  of  her  parents  below. 

This  domestic  happiness  was  clouded  over  by  the  sudden 
death  of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  when  his  little  daughter  was  but 
eight  months  old,  from  the  effects  of  a  chill  at  Sidmouth. 
His  wife,  for  the  second  time  a  widow,  returned  to  Kensington 
Palace  to  devote  herself  to  the  great  duty  of  rearing  the 
future  sovereign.  An  address  of  condolence  from  the  House 
of  Commons  was  presented  to  her.  In  the  course  of  her 
reply  she  said  "  my  beloved  husband's  memory  will  be 
preserved  in  this  country ;  now,  I  am  proud  to  say,  become 
mine  by  affection  and  inclination." 

As  the  sister  of  Prince  Leopold,  husband  of  the  lamented 
Princess  Charlotte,  she  had  been  well  received  in  England, 
and  Faulkner,  who  was  writing  his  History  of  Kensington 
about  this  time,  refers  to  her  as  "  this  illustrious  lady,  whose 
exemplary  life  and  amiable  and  unassuming  manners  have 
deservedly  gained  for  her  the  warm  regard  and  respect  of 
the  British  nation." 

The  king's  great  drawing-room  with  apartments  on  the 
same  floor  (including  no  doubt  the  nursery,  ante-room,  and 
bed-room,  which  attract  the  greater  number  of  visitors  to 
Kensington  Palace  at  the  present  time)  were  added  to  those 
of  the  Duchess  of  Kent,  which  were  in  the  south-eastern 
part  of  the  palace  beneath  the  king's  gallery.  It  was 
probably  when  this  change  was  made  that  the  great  gallery 
was  divided  into  three  compartments,  in  one  of  which  the 
Princess  Victoria  was  later  on  accustomed  to  keep  her  toys, 


328      ROYAL    PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

among  them  those  in  the  glass  cases  in  the  rooms  in  which 
so  many  hours  of  her  childhood  and  youth  were  passed. 

Queen  Victoria  herself  recorded  the  earliest  reminiscences 
of  her  childhood  as  "  crawling  on  a  yellow  carpet  spread 
out  for  that  purpose — and  being  told  that  if  I  cried  and  was 
naughty  my  uncle  Sussex  would  hear  me  and  punish  me, 
for  which  reason  I  always  screamed  when  I  saw  him." 
"  I  had  a  horror  of  bishops  on  account  of  their  wigs  and 
aprons.  This  was  partly  got  over  in  the  case  of  the  then 
Bishop  of  Salisbury  (Dr.  Fisher  .  .  .  ),  by  his  kneeling  down 
and  letting  me  play  with  his  badge  of  Chancellor  of  the  Order 
of  the  Garter." 

Wilberforce  was  living  in  Kensington  in  1820,  and  writes 
to  Hannah  More  on  July  21  :  "  In  consequence  of  a  very  civil 
message  from  the  Duchess  of  Kent,  I  waited  on  her  this 
morning.  She  received  me  with  her  fine,  animated  child  on 
the  floor,  by  her  side,  with  its  playthings,  of  which  I  soon 
became  one." 

The  great  delight  of  the  little  princess's  earliest  childhood 
was  a  donkey  presented  to  her  by  her  uncle,  the  Duke  of 
York,  and  she  would  often  refuse  to  dismount  and  have  a 
run,  until  she  was  told  that  the  donkey  must  be  tired. 

She  was  a  bright,  active  little  girl  with  pretty,  sociable 
ways ;  and  quiet  people,  sitting  in  Kensington  Gardens, 
would  love  to  watch  her  and  be  included  in  her  play.  The 
home-life  by  which  she  was  surrounded  was  quiet,  regular, 
and  orderly  ;  breakfast  at  eight,  in  summer,  when  fine,  served 
on  the  lawn  at  the  rear  of  the  palace ;  dinner  at  two,  when 
the  Duchess  of  Kent  had  her  lunch  ;  and  at  dinner  a  plain 
supper  was  laid  for  the  princess  by  her  mother's  side.  Bed- 
time came  at  nine  o'clock,  when  she  slept  in  a  bed  close  to 
her   mother's   in   the  plain,  pleasant  room  overlooking  the 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  329 

Round  Pond  and  the  distant  vistas,  from  which  there  is  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year  one  of  the  prettiest  views  in  Kensington 
Gardens. 

The  Princess  Victoria  did  not  have  any  regular  lessons 
until  she  had  entered  her  fifth  year,  by  the  wise  counsel 
of  her  maternal  grandmother,  the  Dowager-Duchess  of  Saxe- 
Coburg.  As  time  went  on  she  proved  an  apt  pupil  with  good 
mental  abilities,  which  were  carefully  developed  under  the 
general  direction  of  Dr.  Davys  and  Madame  Lehzen.  The 
latter  kept  a  daily  record  of  studies,  which  was  presented 
once  a  month  to  Prince  Leopold,  who  kept  a  watchful  eye 
over  the  progress  of  his  niece  and  was  to  her  as  a  second 
father. 

The  following  anecdote  shows  that  she  was  not  unco' 
good,  and  that  there  were  occasions  when  her  strong  will 
asserted  itself  against  that  of  her  instructors  : — "  During  a 
pianoforte  lesson  .  .  .  when  scales  and  exercises  had  proved 
rather  too  much  for  the  patience  of  the  little  pupil,  Mr.  Sale 
happened  to  remark  that  there  was  no  royal  road  to  music, 
and  that  princesses  must  practise  like  other  children. 
Whereupon  the  little  autocrat  quietly  locked  the  piano,  and 
slipping  the  key  into  her  pocket,  answered  sedately,  *  There 
you  see  !     There  is  no  must  in  the  matter.'  "  ^ 

In  the  king's  gallery  there  arc  two  cases  full  of  books, 
consisting  chiefly  of  those  used  by  Queen  Victoria  in  her 
childhood  and  youth.  Some  are  interesting  specimens  of 
"  Books  for  Children  "  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  There  are  two  or  three  of  Mrs.  Trimmer's  "  Steps  " ; 
"  Rhymes  for  the  Nursery"  ;  "  Little  Plays  for  Children  "  ; 
"  Winter  Evenings  :  Tales  of  Travellers  "  ;  "  Pleasing  Tales 

*  Knight :   Victoria,  her  Life  and  Reign,  26. 


330      ROYAL    PALACES    OF  ENGLAND 

to  promote  Good  Manners."  In  the  second  case  from  the 
king's  staircase  is  the  first  account-book  given  by  the  Duchess 
of  Kent  to  her  httle  daughter  on  her  ninth  birthday,  with 
her  first  regular  allowance.  The  entries  opposite  it  show 
that  the  mother's  advice  was  promptly  acted  upon.  "  It  is 
in  our  power,"  she  had  said,  "  by  order  and  regularity,  to 
assist  others  consistently  with  what  we  are  required  to  do 
for  ourselves." 

The  duchess  had  herself  learned  the  lesson  of  economy, 
coupled  with  generosity,  which  she  wrote  down  for  her 
daughter's  perusal.  The  resources  at  her  disposal  were 
limited  to  a  jointure  of  -^6,000  a  year  and  an  allowance  of 
■£"3,000  made  to  her  by  her  brother.  In  1825  ^^  annuity 
of  ;^6,ooo  was  voted  by  Parliament  towards  the  support  and 
education  of  her  daughter  Victoria. 

Her  elder  daughter,  Feodore,  who  had  hitherto  lived  with 
her  mother  and  the  little  Victoria,  was  married  in  1828  to 
Prince  Hohenlohe-Langenburg.  In  the  loss  of  this  home 
companion  (for  in  spite  of  the  difference  in  their  ages  the 
sisters  were  devoted  to  one  another)  the  warm-hearted 
Victoria  experienced  her  first  sorrow.  Both  sisters  felt  the 
lack  of  intercourse  with  friends  of  their  own  age  in  their 
rather  solitary  life.  The  queen,  writing  to  King  Leopold 
from  Claremont  in  1842,  referred  to  her  visits  there  as  "  the 
happy  days  of  my  otherwise  dull  childhood."  Princess 
Feodore  in  a  letter  to  the  queen,  who  was  staying  at 
Claremont  in  1843,  says  :  "  Claremont  is  a  dear,  quiet  place  ; 
to  me  also  the  recollection  of  the  few  pleasant  days  I  spent 
during  my  youth.  I  always  left  Claremont  with  tears  for 
Kensington  Palace.  When  I  look  back  upon  those  years, 
which  ought  to  have  been  the  happiest  in  my  life,  from 
fourteen  to  twenty,  I   cannot  help  pitying   myself.     Not  to 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  331 

have  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  youth  is  nothing,  but  to  have 
been  deprived  of  all  intercourse,  and  not  one  cheerful  thought 
in  that  dismal  existence  of  ours,  was  very  hard.  My  only 
happy  time  was  going  or  driving  out  with  you  and  Lehzen  : 
then  I  could  speak  and  look  as  I  liked.  I  escaped  some 
years  of  imprisonment,  which  you,  my  poor  darling  sister, 
had  to  endure  after  I  was  married." 

Leigh  Hunt,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  Charles  Knight  refer 
to  glimpses  which  they  had  of  the  young  "  prisoner."  To 
quote  Knight :  "  I  delighted  to  walk  in  Kensington  Gardens. 
As  I  passed  along  the  broad  central  walk,  I  saw  a  group 
on  the  lawn  before  the  palace.  The  Duchess  of  Kent  and 
her  daughter,  whose  years  then  numbered  nine,  are  break- 
fasting in  the  open  air.  .  .  .  What  a  beautiful  characteristic 
it  seemed  to  me  of  the  training  of  this  royal  girl,  that  she 
should  not  have  been  taught  to  shrink  from  the  public  eye, 
that  she  should  not  have  been  burdened  with  a  premature 
conception  of  her  probable  high  destiny  ;  that  she  should 
enjoy  the  freedom  and  simplicity  of  a  child's  nature  ;  that 
she  should  not  be  restrained  when  she  starts  up  from  the 
breakfast-table  and  runs  to  gather  a  flower  in  the  adjoining 
pastures  ;  that  her  merry  laugh  should  be  as  fearless  as  the 
notes  of  the  thrush  in  the  groves  around  her.  I  passed  on 
and  blessed  her  ;  and  I  thank  God  that  I  have  lived  to  see 
the  golden  fruits  of  such  a  training." 

A  drawing  room  and  juvenile  ball,  at  which  she  was 
allowed  to  be  present  about  this  time,  made  a  great 
impression  on  the  little  girl,  and  the  wardrobe  of  her  dolls 
underwent  a  complete  revision  in  consequence. 

With  the  accession  of  William  IV.  the  Princess  Victoria 
became  heir  to  the  throne,  and  the  Duchess  of  Kent  was 
appointed  to  act  as  regent  in  the  event  of  such  a  necessity, 


332      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

and  in  the  following  year  a  further  annuity  of  £10,000  was 
granted  her  by  Parliament.  This  enabled  her  to  travel 
about  more,  and  a  part  of  each  year  was  spent  in  paying 
visits  to  historic  houses  and  important  towns,  to  give  the 
princess  insight  into  the  social  life  of  the  nation.  Kensington 
Palace  continued  to  be  their  home,  where  the  young  girl's 
principal  amusements  were  still  her  pets,  walks  and  drives, 
and,  during  the  spring  and  summer,  riding. 

In  1833  she  went  out  more  into  society  and  was  more 
frequently  seen  in  public.  The  Duchess  of  Kent  was  friendly 
with  her  sisters-in-law,  the  Princesses  Augusta,  Mary 
(Duchess  of  Gloucester),  and  Sophia,  the  surviving  daughters 
of  George  IIL,  and  these  amiable  ladies  were  frequent 
visitors  at  the  palace,  and  gained  the  love  and  respect  of 
their  young  niece. 

The  Duke  of  Sussex,  whose  apartments  adjoined  those 
of  the  duchess,  devoted  many  years  of  his  life  to  the 
formation  of  his  famous  library,  which  numbered  over 
50,000  books,  and  included,  among  other  valuable  works, 
many  biblical  MSS.  In  this  he  was  assisted  by  Dr. 
Pettigrew,  the  Egyptologist,  and  the  catalogues  of  the 
library,  which  were  published  at  intervals  between  the  years 
1827  and  1839,  still  rank  as  standard  works.  In  1831  this 
library  occupied  some  six  apartments  in  the  angle  on  the 
south-west  of  the  palace,  which  its  owner  either  added  or 
had  rebuilt  for  its  accommodation.  The  books,  however, 
were  afterwards  housed  in  one  of  the  oldest  parts  of  the 
building,  the  long  corridor  leading  from  the  central  gateway 
along  Clock  Court  on  the  right,  through  which  visitors  to 
the  state  apartments  were  formerly  admitted  by  way  of  the 
king's  staircase.  From  the  literary  tastes  of  her  uncle 
Queen  Victoria  derived  her  love  of  books,  and  the  library 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  333 

at  Windsor  Castle  was  one  of  her  first  cares  after  her 
accession.  The  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  Lady  Ceciha 
Underwood,  was  also  one  of  the  queen's  early  friends. 

Several  notable  figures  in  the  queen's  reign  were  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  the  Duchess  of  Kent  from  time  to  time  at 
Kensington  Palace — among  others,  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
Lord  Palmerston  and  Lord  Clarendon,  and  the  keen-witted 
and  eloquent  political  rivals,  Lord  Lyndhurst  and  Lord 
Brougham. 

On  April  24,  1833,  the  duchess  gave  a  dinner  party  at 
Kensington  Palace,  at  which  thirty  guests  were  present, 
including  the  Dukes  of  Cumberland  and  Gloucester.  The 
Princess  Victoria  did  not  dine,  but  went  into  the  drawing- 
room  before  and  after  dinner. 

Her  uncle  Leopold  had  become  king  of  the  Belgians  in 
1831,  but  he  kept  up  a  close  correspondence,  and  by  his 
advice,  both  in  personal  matters  and  in  reading,  did  much  to 
form  her  character  and  mature  her  judgment. 

The  young  princess  was  confirmed  July  30,  1834  ;  two 
books  were  given  to  her  by  her  mother  on  this  occasion  ; 
one  on  the  day  before,  which  is  stamped  as  belonging  to 
her  Majesty's  private  library  at  Buckingham  Palace.  Both  of 
these  books  are  now  in  the  cases  in  the  king's  gallery.  She 
received  her  first  Communion  with  her  mother  in  the 
chapel  at  Kensington  Palace,  where  they  were  accustomed 
to  attend  Divine  service.  This  was  conducted  regularly 
by  a  chaplain  to  the  household,  and  the  public  were 
admitted. 

The  chapel  was  a  small,  plain  room  by  the  council 
chamber  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  palace,  to  which  the 
public  gained  access  through  Clock  Court.  It  had  been 
removed  there  at  the  instance  of  the  Duchess  of  Kent  to 


334      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

give  more  room  at  the  entrance  to  the  staircase  leading  to 
her  apartments.  The  old  accounts  in  the  Public  Record 
Office  show  that  Grinling  Gibbons  carved  the  king's  arms 
supporting  the  Crown  and  Garter,  and  the  rails  and  balustrade 
in  this  chapel.  The  communion  plate  included  a  flagon 
and  chalice,  with  date  marks  of  the  years  1660  and  1664, 
which  had  been  presented  by  Queen  Anne  ;  a  flagon  given 
by  William  III.,  bearing  his  initials  and  the  date  1692  ;  a 
paten  given  by  George  I.  in  1714,  and  a  paten  and  alms- 
dish  presented  by  George  II.  in  1736.  There  is  an  entry  in 
the  Lord  Chamberlain's  Warrant  Book  under  date  May  12, 
1732,  for  Bibles  and  other  books  for  the  chapel  at  Kensington 
to  cost  ;^i56. 

Mrs.  Ritchie  makes  her  heroine  in  Old  Kensington 
stand  "  in  the  strangers'  great  pew  at  Kensington  Palace 
Chapel  .  .  .  opposite  the  great  prayer-books  with  all  the 
faded  golden  stamps  of  lions  and  unicorns."  "  Are  royal 
chapels,"  queries  Dolly,  "  only  echoes  and  allegations  ?  Do 
people  go  there  to  pray  real  prayers,  to  long  passionately 
with  beating  hearts  ?  Have  dried-up  tears  ever  fallen  upon 
the  big  pages  of  the  old  books  with  their  curling  t's  and 
florid  s's?  Books,  in  whose  pages  King  George  III.  still 
rules  over  a  shadowy  realm  and  Queen  Charlotte  heads  the 
royal  family." 

"  It  is  a  quiet  little  place,"  says  the  same  author,  writing 
about  1872.  *'  The  great  square  window  admits  a  silent 
light ;  there  are  high,  old-fashioned  pews  on  either  side  of 
the  place,  and  opposite  the  communion  table,  and  high  up 
over  the  heads  of  the  congregation,  a  great  square  curtained 
pew  with  the  royal  arms  and  a  curtained  gallery." 

The  chapel  was  closed  in  1901,  and  some  beautifully 
printed   Bibles,  which  were  used  in  it  between    the   years 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  335 

1717  and  igoi,  and  a  prayer-book  dated  1760,  may  be  seen 
in  a  case  in  the  middle  of  the  presence  chamber. 

Dr.  Davys,  the  queen's  tutor,  who  became  Bishop  of 
Peterborough  on  her  Majesty's  accession,  was  accustomed 
to  preach  every  Sunday  morning  in  the  chapel.  "  I  like 
your  sermons  so  much,  Mr.  Dean"  (he  was  then  Dean  of 
Chester),  the  Duchess  of  Kent  once  said  to  him.  A  low 
bow  from  the  dean,  "  Because,"  continued  the  duchess, 
"  they  are  so  short." 

In  May,  1836,  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg  paid  a  visit  to 
England  with  his  two  sons,  Ernest  and  Albert,  and  stayed 
at  Kensington  Palace  with  the  Duchess  of  Kent.  There 
under  her  mother's  roof  the  Princess  Victoria,  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  met  the  cousin,  for  the  first  time,  who  was  to  be 
so  much  to  her  in  the  coming  years. 

"  We  may  never  know,"  observes  Mrs.  Tytler  in  her  Life 
of  Queen  Victoria  "  how  the  royal  cousins  met — whether 
the  frank,  kind,  unconscious  princess  came  down  under  the 
wing  of  the  duchess  as  far  as  their  entry  into  Clock  Court, 
where  there  was  a  little  dimness  of  agitation  and  laughing 
confusion,  in  spite  of  the  partial  secrecy,  in  two  pairs  of  blue 
eyes  which  then  encountered  each  other  for  the  first  time  ; 
whether  the  Court  company  ascended  in  well-arranged  file, 
or  in  a  little  friendly  disorder." 

On  June  i  Prince  Albert  wrote  to  his  stepmother  :  "  The 
day  before  yesterday,  Monday,  our  aunt  gave  a  brilliant  ba 
here  at  Kensington  Palace,  at  which  the  gentlemen  appeared 
in  uniform  and  the  ladies  in  so-called  fancy  dresses.  .  .  . 
Dear  aunt  is  very  kind  to  us  and  does  everything  she  can  to 
please  us,  and  our  cousin  also  is  very  amiable." 

On  the  morning  when  the  Princess  Victoria  attained  her 
majority,  she   was    awakened   by  a   serenade    beneath    her 


336      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

windows  and  received  many  costly  presents.  The  day  was 
marked  at  Kensington  by  a  general  holiday.  An  address  was 
received  from  the  Corporation  of  London,  to  which  the 
Duchess  of  Kent  replied.  In  the  course  of  her  remarks  she 
said :  "  I  have  never  ceased  to  impress  on  my  daughter  her 
duties,  so  as  to  gain  by  her  conduct  the  respect  and  affection 
of  the  people.  This  I  have  taught  her,  should  be  her  first 
earthly  duty  as  a  constitutional  sovereign."  The  princess 
made  her  own  reply  in  these  words:  "  I  am  very  thankful  for 
your  kindness,  and  my  mother  has  expressed  all  my  feelings." 
King  William  marked  his  sense  of  the  occasion  by  offering 
Princess  Victoria  a  separate  income,  which  she  accepted ; 
but  the  matter  was  set  aside  owing  to  the  king's  illness. 

In  his  book  on  Queen  Victoria,  published  recently  (igo8), 
Fitzgerald  Molloy  writes  of  the  next  great  event  which  oc- 
curred in  her  life  in  the  following  way  :  "  The  turret  clock  in 
Kensington  Palace  had  not  yet  struck  five  on  the  morning  of 
June  20,  1837,  when  a  carriage  covered  with  dust  and  drawn 
by  horses  flecked  with  foam  drew  up  at  its  principal  entrance. 
Already  the  sun  had  flashed  signals  of  gold  across  wide  spaces 
of  skies  ;  but  as  yet  the  land  slept ;  silvery  phantasmal  mists 
hung  above  the  surrounding  garden's  wide  glades,  the  Round 
Pond,  and  grassy  slopes. 

*'  From  the  carriage  stepped  two  men,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  the  Marquis  of  Conyngham,  bearers  of 
important  news — that  His  Majesty  William  IV.  had  died  at 
twelve  minutes  past  two  o'clock  that  morning  at  Windsor 
Castle.  This  news  they  hastened  to  communicate  to  his 
successor,  the  only  child  of  the  late  Duke  of  Kent,  born 
May  24,  i8ig,  now  in  the  first  month  of  her  nineteenth  year, 
and  up  to  this  hour  known  as  the  Princess  Victoria.  Their 
violent  ringing  at  the  palace  brought  no  immediate  answer. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  337 

It  was  only  when  it  was  repeated  that  bolts  were  slowly 
withdrawn,  chains  undone,  and  the  door  opened  to  show  the 
surprised  face  of  a  sleepy  half-dressed  porter.  To  him  was 
delivered  a  message  to  the  personal  attendants  of  the  princess 
requesting  that  they  would  ask  her  to  sec  His  Majesty's 
Chamberlain  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible.  Having  shown  them  into  a  sitting- 
room  the  porter  hastened  to  obey  an  order  the  significance 
of  which  he  understood.  For  many  minutes  they  were  left 
alone  in  this  lofty  apartment,  with  its  oak  panels,  its  polished 
floor  and  heavy  furniture,  the  dull  air  of  which  contrasted 
with  the  growing  splendour  of  the  summer  morning.  Even- 
tually at  the  sound  of  an  opening  door  they  turned  alert  and 
expectant,  only  to  see  the  princess's  Hanoverian  governess, 
Madame  Lehzen,  a  woman  stout  and  blond  in  appearance 
and  authoritative  in  bearing,  who  with  a  self-important  air 
assured  them  '  her  charge  was  in  such  a  sweet  sleep  she  could 
not  be  disturbed.'  Hearing  this.  Lord  Conyngham  told  her 
sharply,  *  We  have  come  on  business  of  State  to  the  Queen, 
and  even  her  sleep  must  give  way  to  that,'  on  which  Madame 
Lehzen  left.  His  words  were  repeated  to  the  Duchess  of 
Kent,  who  up  to  this  time  had  always  occupied  the  same 
room  with  the  princess,  whom  she  now  woke.  A  few 
minutes  later  the  young  sovereign  quietly  entered  the  apart- 
ment where  she  was  awaited,  a  shawl  wrapped  over  her 
dressing-gown,  her  bare  feet  in  slippers.  A  girl  in  appearance, 
she  was  rather  low  in  stature,  her  large  blue  eyes  bright  with 
intelligence,  her  soft  brown  hair  hanging  about  her  shoulders. 
Lord  Conyngham  at  once  advanced  to  make  known  his 
errand,  but  no  sooner  did  he  utter  the  words  '  Your  Majesty  ' 
than  she  instantly  put  out  her  hand  that  he  might  kiss  it 
before  proceeding  further,  which  he  did  on  bended  knee. 
R.P.  Z 


338      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

She  then  presented  it  to  the  Archbishop.  Having  heard 
with  calmness  from  the  Chamberlain  the  news  for  which  her 
uncle's  condition  had  long  prepared  her,  and  listened  without 
signs  of  impatience  to  '  a  sort  of  pastoral  charge,'  which  his 
Grace  addressed  to  her,  she  made  some  inquiries  about  Queen 
Adelaide,  then  calmly  bowed  and  retired. 

"  In  this  way,  in  the  silence  of  a  summer  morning,  while 
her  subjects  slept,  without  ostentation  and  with  a  simplicity 
in  accordance  with  her  early  life,  the  momentous  news  was 
made  known  to  the  princess  that  she  had  become  Sovereign 
Queen  of  England's  vast  dominions."  ^ 

The  young  queen  met  her  first  Council  at  Kensington 
Palace  at  eleven  on  the  same  day  in  the  low  pillared  room 
immediately  underneath  the  cube  room.  Greville  describes 
the  scene  in  his  own  inimitable  way . 

"  The  queen  entered,  accompanied  by  her  two  uncles,  who 
advanced  to  meet  her.  She  bowed  to  the  lords,  took  her  seat, 
and  then  read  her  speech  in  a  clear,  distinct,  and  audible 
voice,  and  without  any  appearance  of  fear  or  embarrass- 
ment. She  was  quite  plainly  dressed,  and  in  mourning. 
After  she  had  read  her  speech  and  taken  and  signed  the  oath 
for  the  security  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  the  Privy  Coun- 
cillors were  sworn,  the  two  royal  dukes  first,  by  themselves ; 
and  as  these  two  old  men,  her  uncles,  knelt  before  her, 
swearing  allegiance  and  kissing  her  hand,  I  saw  her  blush  up 
to  the  eyes,  as  if  she  felt  the  contrast  between  their  civil  and 
their  natural  relations,  and  this  was  the  only  sign  of  emotion 
which  she  evinced.  Her  manner  to  them  was  very  graceful 
and  engaging  ;  she  kissed  them  both,  and  rose  from  her  chair 
and  moved  towards  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  who  was  farthest 

'  Molloy  :   Victoria  Regina,  3-5. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  339 

from  her  and  too  infirm  to  reach  her.  She  seemed  rather 
bewildered  at  the  multitude  of  men  who  were  sworn,  and 
who  came  one  after  another  to  kiss  her  hand,  but  she  did  not 
speak  to  anybody,  nor  did  she  make  the  slightest  difference 
in  her  manner,  or  show  any  in  her  countenance,  to  any 
individual  of  any  rank,  station,  or  party.  I  particularly 
watched  her  when  Melbourne  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
and  Peel  approached  her.  She  went  through  the  whole 
ceremony,  occasionally  looking  at  Melbourne  for  instruction 
when  she  had  any  doubt  what  to  do,  which  hardly  ever 
occurred,  and  with  perfect  calmness  and  self-possession,  but 
at  the  same  time  with  a  graceful  modesty  and  propriety  par- 
ticularly interesting  and  ingratiating.  When  the  business 
was  done  she  retired  as  she  had  entered,  and  I  could  see  that 
nobody  was  in  the  adjoining  room." 

On  July  13  the  young  queen  left  Kensington  Palace  with 
her  mother  to  take  up  her  residence  at  Buckingham  Palace. 

On  her  wedding-day  "  at  Kensington — the  scene  of  Her 
Majesty's  early  youth,  and  her  constant  residence  until  she 
ascended  the  throne — the  public  enthusiasm  knew  no 
bounds  ...  at  the  commencement  of  High  Street  ...  as 
you  arrive  at  the  entrance  to  Kensington  Palace  an  immense 
triumphal  arch  was  erected,  formed  of  different  kinds  of 
evergreens  and  adorned  with  emblematic  devices.  Under 
this  arch  a  band  had  stationed  themselves,  and  they  continued 
playing  the  most  popular  airs  during  the  day."  ^ 

The  Duke  of  Sussex  died  at  Kensington  Palace  in  1S43. 
During  his  long  residence  there  he  had  been  wont  to  entertain 
his  friends  with  great  hospitality.  Mr.  Rush,  Ambassador 
from  the  United  States  to  England  between  the  years  1S19 


*  Queen  Victoria,  from  Birth  to  Bridal,  n     '>'^'' 


J-- 
Z    2 


340      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

and  1825,  mentions  that  he  "  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table  in 
true,  old  English  style  and  was  full  of  cordiality  and  conversa- 
tion." Always  liberal  in  his  views,  he  was  fond  of  dwelling 
upon  the  blessings  of  free  government. 

The  Duke  of  Sussex  at  one  time  sat  for  his  portrait  to 
Solomon  Hart.  "  The  sittings  were  held  at  Kensington 
Palace  in  a  big  room  with  a  high  ceiling,  long  narrow 
windows,  great  bookcases,  and  a  William  and  Mary  chimney- 
piece,  all  of  which  formed  accessories  to  the  picture."  The 
duke  was  friendly  and  pleasant.  "You  must  forget  the 
queen's  uncle  .  .  .  and  treat  me  as  an  ordinary  person,"  said 
he.  The  sittings  were  carried  on  under  difficulties.  Perhaps, 
after  the  artist  had  walked  from  Gower  Street  to  Kensington, 
the  duke  would  send  a  message  that  he  could  not  give  him  a 
sitting  on  that  day.  Generally  when  the  sitter  was  secured, 
numerous  interruptions  would  take  place.  A  string  of  visitors 
would  arrive,  and  the  picture  would  be  submitted  to  their 
criticism,  or  the  duke's  wife  would  come  in  and  insist  upon 
his  taking  some  fresh  air. 

As  president,  the  Duke  of  Sussex  was  in  the  habit  of  giving 
receptions  to  the  Royal  Society  at  Kensington  Palace,  and 
he  was  ready  to  give  a  helping  hand  in  the  cause  of  science 
whenever  it  was  possible  for  him  to  do  so. 

After  his  death  the  famous  library  which  he  had  collected 
at  the  palace,  and  which  had  become  a  byword  in  learned 
circles,  was  sold  by  auction  and  dispersed. 

His  wife,  who  was  created  Duchess  of  Inverness  by  Queen 
Victoria  in  1840,  thus  being  enabled  to  assume  one  of  her 
husband's  titles,  survived  him  for  some  thirty  years  and  died 
at  Kensington  Palace  in  1873. 

"  I  have  often  spent  an  evening,"  states  the  Hon.  Amelia 
Murray  in  her  Recollections,  "  in  private  with  the  Princess 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  341 

Sophia  at  Kensington  Palace  ;  she  was  an  example  of  unmur- 
muring, patient  endurance,  such  as  can  be  rarely  met  with." 

"  I  think  her  abilities  were  most  superior.  Blind  and 
suffering,  no  complaint  ever  issued  from  her  lips.  She  said 
that  she  did  not  like  to  have  a  resident  lady,  for,  not  being 
able  to  see,  she  should  always  fancy  the  lady  sitting  opposite 
to  her  looking  wearied.  Her  literary  acquirements  were  con- 
siderable ;  she  had  four  readers  who  came  to  her  every  day 
to  read  French,  German,  Italian,  and  English  ;  and  as  each 
was  employed  only  for  an  hour,  she  observed,  *  the  fatigue 
would  not  be  too  great  for  them  ' ;  and  she  was  thus  kept 
au  courant  du  jour,  while  she  tore  paper  into  small  bits  to  fill 
pillows,  which  she  found  were  acceptable  to  invalids." 

"The  last  time  I  saw  this  amiable  princess,  in  addition  to 
her  blindness,  she  was  in  some  degree  deaf,  and  could  not 
move  from  her  seat  without  being  carried ;  yet  still  she  was 
as  patient  and  kind  and  uncomplaining  as  ever." 

The  Princess  Sophia,  who  had  frequently  spent  the  evening 
with  the  Duchess  of  Kent  during  her  residence  at  Kensington 
Palace,  died  there  in  her  armchair,  May  27,  1848. 

For  many  years  there  was  not  any  royal  resident  at  the  old 
palace,  which  stood  "  blinking  its  sleepy  windows  across  elmy 
vistas,  or  into  tranquil  courts,"  behind  the  high  brown  walls 
reaching  along  Kensington  Gardens  to  its  gate.  The  state 
apartments  had  been  dismantled  in  the  early  days  of  the  reign 
of  William  IV.  ;  the  tapestries  and  pictures  which  adorned 
their  walls  had  been  removed  and  sent  to  Hampton  Court 
and  elsewhere. 

After  being  thus  despoiled,  they  were  left  to  another  period 
of  neglect  and  decay,  during  which  other  things,  which  could 
not  be  replaced,  vanished.  Thus  the  cube  room  lost  the 
handsome  chandeliers  which  were  suspended  from  the  ceiling, 


342      ROYAL    PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

and  the  gilded  busts  of  Roman  poets,  which  stood  in  the 
niches  above  the  gilded  statues.  A  large  pier-glass  adorned 
with  wreaths  of  flowers,  the  work  of  Jean  Baptiste  Monnoyer, 
who  had  been  brought  over  to  England  by  the  Duke  of 
Montague  to  decorate  his  house,  now  the  British  Museum, 
used  to  hang  between  the  windows  in  the  presence  chamber. 
It  is  said  that  while  the  artist  painted  this  Queen  Mary  sat 
beside  him,  watching  the  progress  of  his  work.  Queen  Anne's 
closet  was  used  as  a  kitchen,  and  the  chimneypiece  replaced 
by  a  kitchen  range.  Probably  most  of  the  lost  wainscotting 
gradually  disappeared  about  the  same  time. 

Outside,  the  beautiful  orangery  was  allowed  gradually  to 
sink  into  a  state  of  utter  ruin  and  decay,  and  a  suggestion 
was  once  made  that  it  should  be  pulled  down  and  carted 
away  as  rubbish.  Some  of  the  high  panelling  was  torn  down 
and  gardeners'  stands  were  let  into  the  walls  ;  just  as  the 
garden  opposite  was  devoted  to  hideous  glasshouses  and 
forcing  frames,  in  which  the  bedding-out  stock  for  the  park 
and  gardens  was  reared.^  When  the  wall  was  removed  in 
the  early  seventies  from  the  back  of  the  alcove  which  bears 
Queen  Anne's  initial,  it  was  carried  bodily  away  to  the  other 
end  of  the  gardens.  This  "  melancholy,  stately,  grandiose 
old  pile,"  as  Thackeray's  daughter  called  it,  "  filling  one 
with  no  little  respect  for  the  people  who  raised  so  stately  a 
mansion  to  rest  in  for  a  moment,"  now  stands  on  one  side  of 
a  gravel  walk,  leading  down  near  the  fountains.  It  is  utterly 
out  of  place,  since  it  was  built  for  the  purpose  of  being  erected 
at  the  end  of  a  gravel  walk  and  to  face  towards  the  north  ; 
whereas  now  it  does  neither,  with  the  consequence  that  it  is 
completely  overlooked  by  the  passer-by. 

*  These  have  all  been  removed  now,  and  the  ground  has  been  laid  out 
once  more  as  a  garden  with  a  covered  walk  and  ornamental  water. 


KENSINGTON    PALACE  343 

In  1851  a  proposal  was  made  to  build  the  National 
Gallery  on  the  site  of  Kensington  Palace.  The  queen  offered 
to  give  every  facility  for  the  erection  of  the  Gallery,  but  did 
not  see  why  it  should  be  placed  exactly  on  the  site  of  the 
present  palace. 

The  apartments  of  the  Duchess  of  Kent  were  not  inhabited 
for  many  years,  but  the  Duchess  of  Teck  occupied  them  for 
some  time,  and  Princess  May,  the  present  Queen,  was  born 
in  the  "nursery"  in  1867.  After  Queen  Victoria's  death 
they  were  assigned  to  the  Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg. 

The  adjoining  apartments  belong  to  Her  Royal  Highness 
the  Princess  Louise  and  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  who  lived  there 
many  years,  but  now  make  their  home  principally  at  Windsor. 
A  few  favoured  individuals  occupy  private  suites  of  apartments 
by  special  privilege. 

On  June  28,  1893,  Queen  Victoria  visited  Kensington  for 
the  purpose  of  unveiling  the  statue  of  herself,  the  work  of 
her  daughter  Princess  Louise,  which  loyal  Kensington  had 
erected  facing  the  Broad  Walk  in  front  of  the  palace  where 
she  was  born. 

In  1898  an  obdurate  Treasury  was  at  last  prevailed  upon 
to  take  steps  for  the  restoration  of  the  state  rooms  at  Ken- 
sington Palace,  and  ;^23,ooo  was  voted  by  the  House  of 
Commons  for  that  purpose.  The  queen  announced  her 
intention  of  opening  them,  after  careful  restoration,  to  the 
public,  during  her  pleasure.  The  work  was  carried  out  in 
a  spirit  of  true  reverence,  and  no  trouble  was  spared  in  care 
and  ingenuity  and  attention  to  detail,  to  enable  the  historic 
past  to  speak  to  the  listening  ears  of  the  present.  From  the 
day  of  the  Great  Queen's  eightieth  birthday  it  has  been  open 
to  all  who  wish  to  study  the  result  of  the  unique  treatment 
which  has  been  so  lovingly  bestowed  upon  Kensington  Palace. 


(^ucftingpam  (pahct 


BUCKINGHAM  PALACE,  the  London  residence 
of  the  greatest  sovereign  in  the  world,  stands  at 
the  top  of  Constitution  Hill.  The  east  front  of 
the  palace  facing  the  west  of  St.  James's  Park, 
where  Buckingham  Palace  Road,  the  Mall,  and  Birdcage 
Walk  may  be  said  to  converge,  is  the  only  part  of  it  at  all 
familiar  to  the  public  at  large,  for  the  south  side  presents 
merely  a  conglomeration  of  buildings  so  unimpressive  and 
insignificant  as  to  almost  escape  the  notice  of  the  passer-by. 
Even  the  first  view  of  the  east  front  is  disappointing  ;  a  more 
commonplace-looking  building  cannot  well  be  imagined ; 
there  is  nothing  grand  or  inspiring  about  it ;  the  attempts 
at  decoration  in  the  centre  seem  out  of  keeping  with  the 
remainder  of  the  structure ;  while  its  extreme  length  only 
serves  to  intensify  the  complete  absence  of  dignity  for  which 
it  is  chiefly  remarkable. 

Judging  from  this  view  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that 
Buckingham  Palace  has  been  strictured  by  experts  as  the 
ugliest  royal  residence  in  Europe.  From  the  architectural 
standpoint  it  ranks  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  lost  oppor- 
tunities of  London,  a  subject  for  lasting  regret  that  the  skill 
and  the  ingenuity  were  not  forthcoming  for  the  erection  of  a 
palace  worthy  of  the  tradition  of  the  nation  and  of  the  empire. 


a 
u 


1^ 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACI-  345 

A  better  situation  could  scarcely  have  been  chosen  tor  this 
purpose.  The  central,  yet  secluded,  position  of  Buckingham 
Palace  ensures  convenience  without  sacrificing  privacy,  and 
its  gardens  are  unsurpassed  in  the  metropolis,  both  in  beauty 
and  extent.  They  consist  of  some  forty  acres  of  ground  and 
contain  a  lake  covering  four  acres  of  water.  The  compara- 
tively few  who  have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  admission,  which 
has  been  but  seldom  accorded,  have  been  united  in  their 
expressions  of  admiration. 

In  the  king's  apartments,  which  overlook  the  grounds  in 
the  direction  of  Grosvenor  Place,  "  the  seclusion  is  so  great 
that  the  thunder  of  the  London  traffic  is  heard  only  as  a 
murmur  from  the  distant  streets." 

Strange  to  say,  the  histor}'  of  Buckingham  Palace  com- 
mences with  that  of  a  garden.  In  the  early  years  of  the 
reign  of  James  I.  public  attention  in  England  was  directed  to 
the  cultivation  of  silkworms  as  a  profitable  investment,  and  a 
great  stimulus  was  thereby  given  to  the  planting  of  mulberry 
trees  in  all  promising  localities.  In  1609,  by  way  of  experi- 
ment, the  king  set  apart  a  piece  of  ground  near  West- 
minster Palace,  which  was  enclosed  and  planted  with 
these  trees,  at  a  cost  of  £935.  Thus  the  Mulberry 
Garden,  of  which  William  Stallenge  was  appointed  the 
first  keeper  for  a  period  of  seven  years,  although  it  proved 
a  failure  as  a  lucrative  source  of  revenue,  became  an 
established  fact. 

In  1628  Charles  I.  appointed  Walter,  Lord  Aston,  a 
custodian  and  keeper  of  the  Mulberry  Garden  near  St. 
James's  ..."  and  of  the  mulberries  and  silkworms  there, 
and  of  all  the  houses  and  buildings  to  the  same  garden 
belonging."  Four  years  later  Lord  Goring  (the  "wild 
George  Goring"  of  Whytc-Meville's  Hohnhy  House)  purchased 


346      ROYAL    PALACES    OF    ENGLAND 

the  post  from  Lord  Aston  for  ;^8oo,  and  gave  his  name  to 
the  official  residence.-^ 

Later  on  the  garden  became  a  place  of  public  entertain- 
ment, and  May  lo,  1654,  John  Evelyn  writes  that  "  My 
Lady  Gerrard  treated  us  at  the  Mulberry  Garden,  now  the 
only  place  of  refreshment  about  town  for  persons  of  the  best 
quality  to  be  exceedingly  cheated  at,  Cromwell  and  his 
partisans  having  shut  up  and  seized  on  Spring  Garden,  which 
till  now  had  been  the  usual  rendezvous  for  the  ladies  and 
gallants  at  this  season." 

It  remained  a  place  of  fashionable  resort  for  some  years 
after  the  Restoration,  and  references  are  made  by  the  writers 
of  the  period  to  its  walks  and  arbours,  the  "  wilderness,"  and 
the  dining-room  where,  among  other  dainties,  mulberry-tarts 
and  cheese-cakes  seem  to  have  been  in  special  demand.  Here 
Charles  II.  is  said  to  have  broken  the  order  forbidding  the 
drinking  of  healths  which  he  issued  soon  after  his  accession. 
Here,  according  to  Sedley  (one  of  whose  plays  is  entitled 
The  Mulberry  Garden),  "  The  country  ladys  for  the  first 
month  take  up  their  places  in  the  Mulberry  Gardens  as 
early  as  a  citizen's  wife  at  a  new  play."  The  last  scene 
of  Wycherley's  Love  in  a  Wood  is  depicted  in  the  dining- 
room,  and  Shadwell's  Humourists  contains  the  following 
dialogue : — 

Friske.  "  Once  Madam  !  Why  does  not  your  ladyship 
frequent  the  Mulberry  Garden  oft'ner  ?  I  vow  we  had  the 
pleasantest  divertissement  there  last  night." 

Striker.  "  Ay,  I  was  there,  and  the  garden  was  very  full, 
Madam,  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  that  made  love  together 
till  twelve  o'clock  at  night." 

^  In   the    British    Museum   there   is   an   old  water-colour  drawing  of 
Goring  House  at  this  period. 


DUCKIXOIIAM    I'ALACl-:  347 

A  contemporary  remembers  "  plain  John  Drydcn,  before 
he  paid  his  court  with  success  to  the  great,  in  one  uniform 
clothing  of  Norwich  drugget,"  and  adds,  "  I  have  ate  tarts 
with  him  and  Madame  Reeve  ^  at  the  Mulberry  Garden,  when 
our  author  [had]  advanced  to  a  sword  and  Chardreux 
wig  !  " 

In  1668  Samuel  Pepys  found  it  "  a  very  silly  place,  worse 
than  Spring  Garden,  and  but  little  company,  only  a  wilder- 
ness that  is  somewhat  pretty."  In  spite  of  this  disparage- 
ment, however,  he  was  not  above  being  entertained  there  at 
another's  expense,  for,  in  the  following  year,  he  writes  :  "  To 
the  Mulberry  Garden  where  Shere  is  to  treat  us  with  a 
Spanish  olio  ...  he  did  do  it  mighty  nobly  and  olio  was 
indeed  a  very  noble  dish  such  as  I  never  saw  better  or  any 
more  of.  We  left  other  good  things  which  would  keep  till 
night  for  a  collation  and  with  much  content  took  coach 
again,"  returning  later  with  other  company  "  to  supper  upon 
what  was  left  at  noon,  and  very  good,  and  we  mighty  merry." 
The  Mulberry  Garden  was  closed  to  the  public  about  1675. 

Meanwhile  Goring  House,  the  first  house  that  is  known  to 
have  occupied  part  of  the  site  of  Buckingham  Palace,  had 
been  appropriated  during  the  Commonwealth  by  Speaker 
Lenthal.  At  the  Restoration  Lord  Goring  returned  to  it, 
but  died  within  two  years.  On  June  10,  1660,  Pepys  writes, 
"  I  put  on  my  new  silk  suit,  first  that  ever  I  wore  in  my 
life  ...  to  a  great  wedding  kept  at  Goring  House  with  very 
great  state,  cost  and  noble  company  !  "  The  house  was 
purchased  from  Goring's  son  and  successor  by  Henry  Bennet, 
better  known  as  Lord  Arlington,  one  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
members  of  the  well-known  Cabal  Ministry,  who  was  living 

'  A  popular  actress  of  the  period. 


348      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

there  in  March,  1665,  when  Evelyn  called  it  "  ill-built  but 
capable  of  being  made  a  very  pretty  villa !  "  In  this  year 
Lord  Arlington  imported  to  England  from  Holland  one 
pound  of  tea  at  a  cost  of  £^,  so  that  in  all  probability  tea 
was  first  drunk  in  this  country  at  Goring  House. 

In  1671  the  second  and  last  Lord  Goring  died,  and  next 
year  the  office  of  "  Keeper  of  the  Mulberries  "  was  aboHshed, 
so  that  in  1673  Lord  Arlington  obtained  a  lease  from 
Charles  IL,  for  ninety-nine  years  at  a  nominal  rent,  of  the 
grounds  adjacent  to  his  house.  This  he  had  furnished  in  the 
most  sumptuous  manner,  the  new  dressing-room,  which 
Evelyn  describes  April  17,  1673,  containing  "  a  bed,  two 
glasses,  silver  jars  and  vases,  cabinets  and  other  so  rich 
furniture,  as  I  had  seldom  seen."  On  this  occasion  he 
cannot  refrain  from  remarking,  "  to  this  excess  of  superfluity 
were  we  now  arrived  and  that  not  only  at  Court  but  almost 
universally,  even  to  wantonness  and  profusion."  Eighteen 
months  later  he  has  this  further  record  to  make  :  "  I  went  to 
see  the  great  loss  that  Lord  Arlington  had  sustained  by  fire 
at  Goring  House  this  night  [September  20,  1674]  consumed 
to  the  ground,  with  exceeding  loss  of  hangings,  plate,  rare 
pictures  and  cabinets :  hardly  anything  was  saved  of  the 
best  and  most  princely  furniture  that  any  subject  had  in 
England.     My  lord  and  lady  were  both  absent  at  the  Bath." 

Nothing  discouraged  by  the  loss  which  he  had  sustained. 
Lord  Arlington  appears  to  have  commenced  rebuilding  at 
once  ;  and  Goring  House  was  replaced  by  another,  called 
after  its  owner  Arlington  House.  This  was  purchased  in 
i6g8  by  John  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  five  years 
later  obtained  leave  to  have  it  pulled  down. 

In  its  place  Buckingham  House  was  erected,  which  was 
built   in    brick    and    stone   after   the   designs   of   a    Dutch 


P,UCKIX(iIIAM    PALACE  349 

architect,  Captain  Wynne.  It  excited  the  admiration  both  of 
the  duke,  who  wrote  an  elaborate  description  of  his  new  house 
in  a  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and  also  of  his  con- 
temporaries, who  were  almost  as  unstinted  in  their  praise  as 
the  owner  himself.  Thus  John  Timbs,  in  his  New  View  of 
London,  published  in  1708,  speaks  of  Buckingham  House, 
"  now  in  the  occupation  of  his  Grace,"  as  "  a  graceful  palace, 
very  commodious,"  "a  seat  notto  be  contemned  by  the  greatest 
monarch." 

Again  Macky  in  1722  describes  it  as  "  one  of  the 
great  beauties  of  London,  both  by  reason  of  its  situation 
and  building  .  .  .  behind  it  a  fine  garden,  a  noble  terrace 
(from  whence,  as  well  as  from  the  apartments,  you  have  a 
most  delicious  prospect)  and  a  little  park  with  a  pretty  canal. 
The  courtyard  which  fronts  the  park  is  spacious,  the  offices 
are  on  each  side  divided  from  the  palace  by  two  arching 
galleries  .  .  .  and  on  the  gate  of  the  court  (which  is  of  iron) 
are  finely  cut  out  the  coronet  and  cypher  of  his  Grace,  with  the 
ensigns  of  the  noble  Order  of  the  Garter ;  and  in  the  middle 
of  the  court  is  a  round  basin  of  water — wdth  the  figure  of 
Neptune  and  the  tridents  in  a  water-work.  The  staircase  is 
large  and  nobly  painted  ;  and  in  the  hall,  before  you  ascend 
the  stairs  is  a  very  fine  statue  of  Cain  slaying  of  Abel,  in  marble. 
The  apartments  are  indeed  very  noble,  the  furniture  rich  and 
many  very  good  pictures.  The  top  of  the  palace  is  flat,  on 
which  one  hath  a  full  view  of  London  and  Westminster  and 
the  adjacent  country ;  and  the  four  figures  of  Mercury, 
Secrecy,  Equity  and  Liberty  front  the  park ;  and  those  of 
the  Four  Seasons,  the  gardens.  His  Grace  hath  also  put 
inscriptions  on  the  four  parts  of  his  palace  .  .  .  the  inscrip- 
tions on  the  two  fronts  are  very  well  adapted ;  for  on  the 
front  to  the  park,  which  is  as  delicious  a  situation  as  can  be 


350      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

imagined,  sic  siti  laetantur  lares,  the  household  gods 
dehght  in  such  a  situation  ;  and  fronting  the  garden  rus  in 
URBE,  the  country  within  a  city,  which  may  be  properly  said, 
for  from  that  garden  you  can  see  nothing  but  an  open 
country  and  an  uninterrupted  view,  without  seeing  any  part  of 
the  city,  because  the  palace  interrupts  that  prospect  from 
the  garden."  ^ 

In  the  Jerningham  Collection  of  old  prints  and  engravings 
of  the  Royal  Palaces  and  Parks  in  Kensington  Palace  there 
are  some  engravings  of  Buckingham  House,  as  it  appeared 
when  this  description  was  written. 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  is  described  as  "  a  noble- 
man of  learning  and  good  natural  parts,  but  of  no  principles," 
died  at  Buckingham  House  in  1720-21,  and  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  The  house  was  left  to  his  widow,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  James  II.  by  Catherine  Sedley,  Countess 
of  Dorchester.  She  was  noted  in  her  day  for  her  eccen- 
tricities and  for  her  devotion  to  the  House  of  Stuart.  Horace 
Walpole,  who  dubbed  her  "  Princess  Buckingham,"  relates 
in  his  Reminiscences  how  she  received  Lord  Hervey  on  the 
day  of  her  grandfather's  execution,  "  in  the  great  drawing- 
room  of  Buckingham  House,  seated  in  a  chair  of  state  in 
deep  mourning,  attended  by  her  women  in  like  weeds,  in 
memory  of  the  royal  martyr." 

On  the  death  of  the  duchess  in  1743,  "  her  funeral  was 
the  subject  of  the  town  .  .  .  her  effigy  in  wax  .  .  .  dressed 
up  in  her  coronation  robes  was  placed  under  a  canopy  of 
state  [the  canopy  in  which  she  had  evinced  the  greatest  interest 
when  on  her  death-bed]  with  two  ladies  of  her  bedchamber 
at  her  head  and  feet  and  drawn  by  six  horses  covered  with  black 

^  Macky  :  Journey  through  England,  194,  195. 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACI-:  351 

velvet."  ^  The  effigy  of  the  duchess  and  those  of  her  two 
sons  are  still  preserved  at  Westminster  Abbey.  She  was 
succeeded  in  the  ownership  of  Buckingham  House  by  the 
duke's  natural  son,  Charles  Herbert  Sheffield,  on  whom 
it    had    been  entailed  after  the  death  of   the  young    duke 

in  1735- 

In  1761  George  HI.  bought  the  house  from  Sir  Charles 

Sheffield  for  ;{"2 1,000  and  soon  afterwards  moved  there  from 
St.  James's  Palace.  By  1772,  according  to  Northouck,  the 
appearance  of  the  house,  since  it  became  a  royal  residence, 
had  been  changed,  but  not  improved.  "  Originally  this 
building  had  an  air  of  elegant  uniformity  ;  but  though  the 
front  view  is  not  yet  damaged,  so  many  irregular  additions 
have  been  made  on  each  side,  as  to  inspire  the  spectator  with 
the  idea  of  a  country  parsonage-house  to  which  every 
incumbent  has  added  something,  one  a  wash-house,  another 
a  stable,  another  a  hen-roost  .  .  .  till  the  whole  is  made  a 
mere  jumble  of  patch-work."  The  statues  had  been  removed 
from  the  roof,  the  inscriptions  from  the  sides  of  the  house, 
while  inferior  iron  railings  had  been  substituted  for  the 
handsome  ironwork  and  gates  which  had  formerly  served 
for  the  purpose  of  enclosure. 

In  1775  by  Act  of  Parliament  Buckingham  House  was 
settled  on  Queen  Charlotte  for  life,  in  exchange  for  Somerset 
House,  after  which  it  became  generally  known  as  the  Queen's 
Palace.  There  are  several  views  of  it  in  the  Jerningham 
Collection  which  can  easily  be  compared  with  the  earlier 
ones  of  Buckingham  House. 

It  continued  to  be  the  favourite  residence  both  of 
George  III.  and  of  his  queen ;  it  was  the  birthplace  of  all 

'  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1743,  p.  136. 


352      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

their  children,  with  the  exception  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
and  the  scene  of  many  happy  years  of  the  quiet  domestic  life 
which  they  both  loved,  before  the  troubles  of  later  days 
encompassed  them  with  the  shadows  of  anxiety  and  gloom. 
The  royal  children  were  brought  up  with  almost  Spartan 
severity,  but  that  relaxations  were  not  wanting  is  shown  in 
the  following  reference  to  a  juvenile  ball  given  by  the  queen 
at  Buckingham  House,  which  occurs  in  a  letter  written  to 
Hannah  More  : — "  His  Majesty  minded  only  the  little  ones, 
whom  he  ranged  and  matched  and  was  quite  delighted  with 
their  performance;  requiring  the  queen  to  come  and  see  how 
well  they  danced."  The  evenings  at  the  Queen's  Palace 
were  sometimes  enlivened  with  readings  by  Mrs.  Siddons. 
The  saloon  was  used  as  a  throne-room,  where  Queen 
Charlotte  was  accustomed  to  hold  her  drawing-rooms. 

The  cartoons  of  Raphael,  which  are  now  in  South  Ken- 
sington Museum,  found  a  temporary  resting-place  in  her 
palace,  but  its  greatest  glory  consisted  in  the  fine  library 
which  George  HI.  collected  within  its  walls,  regularly  appro- 
priating ;£'2,ooo  a  year  for  nearly  sixty  years  to  this  object. 
Mr.  Barnard,  the  king's  librarian,  was  a  friend  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  so  that  the  latter  had  free  access  to  the  library,  and 
it  was  there  that  his  personal  interview  with  the  king  took 
place  in  1767,  of  which  a  full  account  is  given  by  Boswell. 
This  library  was  presented  to  the  nation  by  George  IV.  and 
is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  as  the  King's  Library. 

During  the  Gordon  Riots  in  1780  it  was  feared  that  the 
rioters  would  make  their  way  to  the  Queen's  Palace,  and  a 
large  number  of  soldiers  were  stationed  in  the  grounds  for 
its  protection.  By  some  oversight  no  straw  was  provided  for 
their  accommodation  at  night,  and  so  the  king,  having  seen 
that  everything  was  done  for  their  comfort  in  other  respects, 


HUCKIXGHAM    PALACE  353 

shared  the  long  night  watch  with  them,  walking  about  and 
chatting  with  the  easy  affability  which  endeared  him  to  the 
hearts  of  his  subjects. 

On  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  a  suite  of  rooms 
was  magnificently  fitted  up,  two  of  the  lev^e  rooms  being 
hung  with  beautiful  tapestry,  "  recently  discovered  with 
colours  unfaded  in  an  old  chest  at  St.  James's." 

Although  her  usual  home  was  at  Carlton  House,  it  was 
from  the  Queen's  Palace  in  1816  that  the  Princess  Charlotte, 
upon  whom  the  nation's  hopes  were  at  that  time  centred, 
went  forth  in  the  heyday  of  her  youth  and  beauty  to  her 
marriage  with  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha, 
afterwards  King  of  the  Belgians. 

Queen  Charlotte  died  in  1818,  and  not  many  years  after 
George  IV.  entrusted  his  favourite  architect,  Nash,  with  the 
task  of  pulling  down  and  rebuilding  almost  the  whole  of 
Buckingham  House.  The  new  structure,  afterw^ards  dignified 
by  the  name  of  palace,  was  commenced  in  1825,  apparently 
in  a  very  haphazard  kind  of  way,  without  models  or  per- 
spective draw^ings.  The  original  wings  of  the  building  met 
with  such  wholesale  condemnation  that  they  had  to  be 
removed,  the  architect  owning  that  he  did  not  think  that 
they  would  look  as  they  did,  which  naive  but  exasperating 
confession  he  also  made  with  respect  to  the  dome  of  the 
garden  front,  which  was  visible  where  he  did  not  intend 
it  to  be. 

Nash's  palace,  the  erection  of  which  cost  about  ^^500,000, 
and  which  was  not  finished  until  1837,  showed,  according  to 
Leeds,  "  his  utter  incapacity  for  the  task  he  had  undertaken, 
the  barrenness  of  his  invention,  the  feebleness  of  his  ideas, 
and  the  paltriness  of  his  taste."  The  garden  front  is 
generally  considered  to  be  the  most  satisfactory  part  of  his 
R.P.  A  A 


354      ROYAL    PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

work ;  the  basement  is  fronted  by  a  raised  terrace  guarded 
by  a  balustrade,  above  which  the  elevation  shows  four- 
storied  ;  and  the  effect  of  the  Corinthian  towers  from  the 
shores  of  the  lake,  although  wanting  in  grandeur,  is  not 
unpleasing. 

The  Marble  Arch,  which  was  erected  in  1827-28  from 
designs  by  Burton,  stood  in  front  of  the  central  entrance  to 
Buckingham  Palace  until  its  removal  to  its  present  position 
in  185 1,  and  bore  the  royal  banner  which  is  now  displayed 
over  the  centre  of  the  east  front  when  the  sovereign  is  in 
residence. 

George  IV.  never  inhabited  the  building,  upon  which  his 
character  and  reign  have  left  an  indelible  impression.  It  is 
interesting  to  notice  that  William  IV.,  who  disliked  Bucking- 
ham Palace  and  left  it  unused,  at  once  offered  it  for  the 
accommodation  of  Parliament  when  their  Houses  were 
burnt  down  in  1834,  but  this  kindly  proposal  they  did  not 
see  their  way  to  accept. 

On  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria  several  alterations 
were  made  in  the  palace ;  the  objectionable  dome  was 
removed  from  the  garden  front,  and  new  buildings  were 
added  to  the  south.  The  young  sovereign  took  up  her 
residence  there  July  13,  1837,  and  "  had  no  sooner  entered 
.  .  .  than  she  set  out  to  explore  the  great  rooms  and  long 
corridors  with  the  joyous  curiosity  of  a  bride  examining  her 
new  home." 

Nearly  a  year  later  occurred  the  first  of  the  long  series  of 
State  pageants  with  which  Buckingham  Palace  has  since  been 
associated.  Her  youth  and  sex  and  the  retired  life  which  she 
had  hitherto  led  caused  the  nation  to  take  an  unprecedented 
interest  in  the  coronation  of  their  queen.  The  morning  of 
June    28,   although  grey  and   threatening,   saw    thousands 


k 

^ 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACK  355 

assembled  to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  her  on  this  historic 
occasion.  In  the  light  of  after  events  it  is  rather  amusing 
that  The  Times'  correspondent  should  have  narrated  at  some 
length  how  the  frequent  hovering  of  a  large  goose  over  the 
palace  caused  the  following  prediction  to  be  voiced  among 
some  elderly  women  in  the  crowd  : — "  Who'd  have  thought 
it,  that  a  nasty,  ugly,  long-necked  .  .  .  goose  should  have 
been  fated  to  mar  the  happy  events  of  this  day  !  There  will 
surely  be  some  accident,  or  the  poor  dear  soul,  God  bless  her, 
will  not  long  survive  the  ceremony."  At  eight  o'clock  it  was 
raining  heavily,  but,  "  Two  hours  later,  when  the  queen  left 
Buckingham  Palace  and  stepped  into  the  state  coach  drawn 
by  eight  cream-coloured  horses,  the  sun  shone  brilliantly  on 
a  scene  radiant  with  the  crimson  and  gold  of  uniforms,  the 
glitter  of  cuirass  and  helmet,  the  multi-coloured  hues  of 
robe  and  gown,  the  blaze  of  jewels,  and  the  splendour  of  the 
long  line  of  gorgeously  emblazoned  coaches  carr^ang  foreign 
ambassadors  and  ministers  extraordinary."  Seven  hours 
passed  before  the  newly-crowned  queen  returned,  and  "  the 
cheering  which  in  the  morning  had  been  loud  was  now 
almost  overpowering."  The  same  evening  Her  Majesty  gave 
a  dinner  party  to  one  hundred  guests,  and  later  on  she  and 
her  maids  viewed  the  illuminations  and  the  fireworks  sent  up 
from  the  Green  Park  from  the  roof  of  the  palace. 

In  November,  1839,  the  queen  announced  to  over  eighty 
members  of  her  Privy  Council  assembled  in  the  bow  room  at 
Buckingham  Palace,  "  in  a  clear,  sonorous,  sweet-toned 
voice,"  her  intention  to  ally  herself  in  marriage  with  Prince 
Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha.  This,  the  second  great 
change  in  her  hitherto  comparatively  uneventful  life,  took 
place  from  Buckingham  Palace  on  February  10,  1840,  amid 
a  general  interest  which  no  occurrence  in  connection  with 

A  A   2 


356      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  royal  family  had  produced  since  the  marriage  of  the  loved 
and  lamented  Princess  Charlotte.  "  The  queen  came  back 
with  the  chosen  companion  of  her  life — her  husband — by  her 
side,  who  handed  her  from  the  carriage  at  the  palace  door." 
She  "  entered  her  own  hall  with  an  open  and  joyous  counte- 
nance, acknowledging  the  loud  and  cordial  cheers  which 
rang  through  the  apartment."  "  She  walked  up  the  grand 
staircase,  in  the  presence  of  her  Court,  leaning  on  her 
husband's  arm."  After  the  wedding  breakfast  the  royal  pair 
"left  Buckingham  Palace  in  a  carriage  and  four  with  out- 
riders in  scarlet  liveries  and  escorted  by  a  party  of  light 
dragoons  for  Windsor  Castle.  .  .  .  The  sun,  which  had 
been  hidden  by  clouds  throughout  the  day,  broke  forth  with 
the  utmost  splendour  just  as  the  royal  cavalcade  left  the 
palace.  There  seemed  to  be  as  fresh  an  eagerness  to  see  Her 
Majesty  set  out  for  Windsor  as  if  it  were  the  first  event  of 
the  day." 

Although  as  time  went  on  their  mutual  preference  for 
the  country  made  the  queen  and  Prince  Albert  curtail  their 
London  visits  as  much  as  their  State  duties  allowed,  some 
time  in  each  year  of  their  married  life  was  necessarily  spent  in 
Buckingham  Palace,  and  King  Edward  VII.  and  most  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  were  born  there.  In  London  the  queen 
took  her  customary  morning  walk  with  her  husband  in  the 
palace  gardens,  when  it  was  a  great  amusement  to  the  latter 
to  watch  and  feed  the  aquatic  birds  which  were  kept  there  at 
his  suggestion.  Once,  when  the  lake  was  frozen  over,  the 
prince  was  figuring  gracefully  on  the  ice,  while  the  queen, 
with  one  of  her  ladies,  watched  him  from  the  bank,  when,  to 
adopt  his  own  account,  "  he  fell  plump  into  the  water,  and 
had  to  swim  for  two  or  three  minutes  in  order  to  get  out." 
In  1843  the  public  attention  had  been  drawn  to  the  use  of 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE  357 

fresco  for  decorative  purposes  by  the  exhibition  of  the 
cartoons  for  the  new  Houses  of  Parhament.  The  queen 
and  the  Prince  Consort  showed  their  personal  interest  by 
erecting  a  paviHon  in  the  grounds  of  Buckingham  Palace  on 
an  artificial  mound  near  the  lake,  in  which  this  method  of 
treatment  was  illustrated  in  three  distinct  styles  under  the 
superintendence  of  Griiner.  Eastlake,  Landseer,  Maclise, 
Uwins,  and  other  artists  of  the  day  executed  the  lunettes 
from  Comus,  in  which  the  al  fresco  idea  is  predominant ; 
scenes  from  the  poems  and  novels  of  Scott  create  in  another 
room  the  atmosphere  of  romance  ;  while  yet  a  third  room  is 
Pompeian  in  the  minutest  details  of  furniture  and  fittings. 
The  finished  scheme  can  be  studied  in  a  beautiful  book  of 
engravings,  with  an  introduction  by  Mrs.  Jameson,  which 
Griiner  published  by  command  of  the  queen  in  1846. 

In  May,  1842,  there  took  place  at  Buckingham  Palace  the 
great  historic  fete  known  as  the  "Queen's  Plantagenet  Ball," 
which  had  been  organised  chiefly  with  a  view  to  helping  the 
depressed  trades  of  London,  the  orders  for  the  robes  of  the 
queen  and  prince  being  executed  in  Spitalfields.  At  the 
appointed  time  King  Edward  escorted  Queen  Philippa  to  her 
throne,  and  they  awaited  with  their  Court  the  arrival  of  Anne 
of  Brittany,  who,  led  by  Louis  XII.  and  accompanied  by  a 
suite  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  courtiers  from  France,  Italy, 
and  Spain,  was  to  be  presented  before  them.  About  half-past 
ten,  marshalled  by  the  heralds,  the  procession  marched  up  the 
grand  white  marble  staircase,  through  the  gilded  state  rooms 
with  their  reflecting  mirrors  and  glittering  chandeliers,  to  the 
throne-room.  The  meeting  of  the  two  Courts  formed  a 
magnificent  living  picture  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
periods  in  modern  history,  portrayed  by  the  highest,  the 
wealthiest,  the  loveliest,  and  the  most  honourable  in  the  land. 


358      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

Three  years  later  the  palace  was  the  scene  of  another 
notable  ball,  at  which  the  guests  wore  costumes  of  the 
Georgian  period  between  1740  and  1750.  The  diplomatic 
corps  and  foreigners  of  distinction  adopted  the  uniform  of 
their  respective  nations  within  the  prescribed  dates,  while  the 
nobility  and  gentry  in  many  cases  copied  from  family  portraits 
the  dress  of  their  ancestors.  The  ladies  wore  their  quaint 
dress  with  as  much  variety  as  possible  in  rich  brocades,  raised 
velvets,  and  gold  and  silver  tissues,  with  rare  lace  and  "  the 
greatest  magnificence  of  embroidered  and  jewelled  decoration 
consistent  with  propriety." 

In  a  letter  to  Sir  Robert  Peel,  dated  February  10,  1845, 
the  queen  refers  to  the  total  want  of  accommodation  for  a 
growing  family  at  Buckingham  Palace,  together  with  the 
urgent  need  for  repairs  and  improvements.  These  were  com- 
menced in  1847  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Blore,  at 
an  estimated  cost  of  .^150,000,  to  include  the  erection  of  the 
present  east  front  and  the  state  ball-room.  The  grand  saloon, 
in  which  three  hundred  guests  can  be  seated  on  the  occasion 
of  a  State  concert,  had  previously  served  as  a  ball-room,  but 
it  was  quite  inadequate  for  this  purpose,  necessitating  the 
additional  use  of  the  throne-room,  after  the  presentations  to 
the  queen  had  been  made.  In  1852  an  additional  ;^5o,ooo 
was  secured  for  the  enlargement  and  improvement  of  the 
palace  from  the  sale  of  the  Royal  Pavilion  and  its  grounds  at 
Brighton. 

It  was  probably  about  this  time  that  a  carpet  merchant, 
whose  men  were  laying  down  new  carpets  in  the  state  apart- 
ments, being  a  connoisseur  in  art,  put  on  a  workman's  smock 
and  made  his  way  to  the  picture  gallery,  where  there  is  a 
fine  collection  of  Dutch  and  Flemish  pictures,  purchased  by 
George  IV.  from  Sir  Francis  Baring.     While  he  was  quietly 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACK  359 

inspecting  them,  the  queen,  very  plainly  dressed,  came  in  and 
asked,  "  Pray,  can  you  tell  me  when  the  carpet  will  be  put 
down  in  the  Privy  Council  Chamber  ?  "  "  Really,  madam, 
I  cannot  tell,  but  I  will  inquire,"  said  the  disguised  carpet 
merchant.  "  Stay,"  said  Her  Majesty  abruptly,  but  not 
unkindly,  "  who  are  you  ?  I  perceive  that  you  are  not  one 
of  the  workmen."  Blushing  and  stammering,  he  confessed 
that  his  love  of  art  had  led  him  into  this  deception.  The 
queen  was  much  amused,  readily  forgave  him,  and  added 
with  a  smile,  "  I  knew  for  all  your  dress  that  you  were  a 
gentleman,  because  you  did  not  'Your  Majesty'  me.  Pray 
look  at  the  pictures  as  long  as  you  will.     Good  morning."  ^ 

The  royal  children  (some  of  whom  had  run  in  after  their 
mother  on  this  occasion),  though  strictly  brought  up,  enjoyed 
many  and  varied  amusements,  and  even  at  Buckingham 
Palace  felt  no  lack  of  home  delights.  Of  the  many  "  treats  " 
given  them  perhaps  the  grandest  was  the  juvenile  ball  at 
Buckingham  Palace  on  Prince  Arthur's  birthday  in  1845,  ^t 
which  two  hundred  children  were  present.  A  few  grown-up 
guests  helped  to  make  the  young  folks  happy,  among  whom 
was  the  then  Premier,  Lord  Aberdeen,  to  whom  the  following 
graceful  invitation  had  been  sent  : — "  Though  the  queen 
cannot  send  Lord  Aberdeen  a  card  for  a  child's  ball,  perhaps 
he  may  not  disdain  coming  for  a  short  while  to  see  a  number 
of  happy  little  people,  including  some  of  his  grandchildren, 
enjoy  themselves." 

A  few  years  later  Buckingham  Palace  served  as  a  back- 
ground for  two  incidents  in  connection  with  the  Crimean 
War.  One  was  the  march  past  of  the  Guards  on  the  morn- 
ing of  their  departure  from   England  in   1854,  after  which 

Partly  quoted  from  Knight :  Life  and  Reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  184. 


36o      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

Queen  Victoria  wrote  to  her  uncle,  King  Leopold :  "  We 
stood  on  the  balcony  to  see  them.  .  .  .  They  formed  line, 
presented  arms,  and  then  cheered  us  very  heartily  and  went 
off  cheering.  It  was  a  touching  and  beautiful  sight."  The 
other  was  the  march  past  of  those  who  returned  at  the  end 
of  the  campaign,  after  more  than  two  years'  absence. 

"  Early  in  January,  1858,  elaborate  and  splendid  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Royal. 
By  the  19th  Buckingham  Palace  was  crowded  with 
guests.  .  .  .  Incessant  bustle  and  joyous  confusion  filled 
the  palace  from  morning  till  daybreak.  .  .  .  The  tall  and 
handsome  bridegroom  did  not  arrive  until  the  23rd,  when 
he  looked  pale  and  nervous.  He  was  met  in  the  great  hall 
by  the  queen  and  the  whole  Court,  and  at  the  top  of  the 
stairs  by  his  bride-elect  and  the  Princess  Alice.  Then  came 
the  wedding-day,  January  25,  which  Her  Majesty  spoke  of 
as  *the  second  most  eventful  day  in  my  life  as  regards 
feelings.  I  felt  as  if  I  were  being  married  over  again 
myself.'  .  .  .  The  morning  was  clear  and  bright,  and  as 
the  procession  of  state  carriages,  attended  by  glittering 
escorts,  left  Buckingham  Palace  .  .  .  bells  rang,  thousands 
cheered,  and  the  flourish  of  trumpets  electrified  the  air.  .  .  . 
After  the  wedding  breakfast  the  young  couple  started  for 
Windsor. 

"  With  heavy  regret  Her  Majesty  and  the  Prince  Consort 
parted  from  their  eldest  daughter.  The  whole  scene  at 
Buckingham  Palace  was  melancholy,  for  not  only  the  queen 
and  prince  were  overcome,  but  the  whole  household  were 
in  tears.  The  departure  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom, 
February  2,  1858,  took  place  in  a  blinding  snowstorm."^ 

1  MoUoy  :    Victoria  Regina,  590,  591. 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE  361 

After  the  lamented  death  of  the  Prince  Consort,  the  queen 
came  less  and  less  to  London,  and  the  palace  was  more  and 
more  deserted,  except  at  the  rare  intervals  of  the  proverbial 
three  days'  visit.  It  awoke  to  temporary  splendour  in  1873, 
when  it  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Shah,  Nasr-ed-Din, 
during  his  visit  to  England  in  the  summer  of  that  year. 

But  the  one  great  event  of  national  importance  in  thirty 
years,  which  served  as  a  magnet  to  direct  the  thoughts  of  all 
to  the  presence  of  their  queen  in  Buckingham  Palace,  was 
the  occasion  of  her  Jubilee  in  1887.  On  the  morning  of 
June  21  she  looked  out  from  a  side  window  on  the  vast 
crowd  assembled  in  the  full  fervour  of  anticipation,  and  a 
tremendous  shout  of  welcome  went  up.  "  In  the  almost 
absolute  silence  which  ensued  .  .  .  the  strains  of  the  National 
Anthem  were  distinctly  audible,  and  at  last  the  fateful 
moment  came."  The  pent-up  voice  of  the  people  could  no 
longer  be  restrained,  and  when  the  famous  cream-coloured 
horses  came  into  full  view  the  rich  and  tumultuous  chorus 
of  loyalty  and  affection  pealed  forth  in  unabated  strength. 

Two  years  later,  July  27,  1889,  amid  every  demonstration 
of  popular  enthusiasm,  the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Louise 
of  Wales,  now  Princess  Royal,  with  the  Duke  of  Fife  took 
place  in  the  chapel  at  Buckingham  Palace.  This  chapel, 
which  was  consecrated  in  1843,  was  not  originally  designed 
for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  "  It  is  not  a  spacious  room  .  .  . 
the  middle  space  is  bare.  Round  all  the  sides,  except  that 
which  is  occupied  by  the  altar,  is  a  colonnade  of  Corinthian 
pillars,  broken  by  a  wreath  in  the  middle  and  profusely 
gilded,  the  bases  of  which  rest  upon  green  and  red  marble. 
The  roof  and  walls  are  coloured  with  a  great  diversity  of 
tints,  and  around  the  top  are  windows,  not  ecclesiastical  but 
oblong,  filled  with  ground  glass  to  which  there  is  a  purple 


362      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

border.  .  .  .  The  chapel,  in  fact,  may  be  interesting  as  a 
type  of  architecture,  but  in  itself  is  far  from  beautiful.  It  is 
not  without  objects  of  real  charm.  Over  the  altar  is  an 
exquisite  piece  of  Gobelin  tapestry  representing  the  Baptism 
of  our  Saviour  ;  on  each  side  is  a  triptych,  the  work  of  Henri 
de  Bles,  that  to  the  right  representing  the  Descent  from 
the  Cross,  while  that  to  the  left  is  believed  to  portray  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi."  ^ 

Reaching  Buckingham  Palace,  the  bridal  party  passed 
along  the  spacious  corridor  leading  to  the  bow  drawing- 
room.  This  pleasant  room,  so  called  from  its  rounded 
corners,  overlooks  the  gardens  and  contains  a  priceless 
collection  of  china,  including  the  most  celebrated  specimen 
of  Sevres  in  the  world.  Leaving  to  the  right  the  Forty-four 
room,  with  its  mementoes  of  the  queen's  visit  to  France, 
where  the  signing  of  the  register  was  to  take  place  later,  they 
reached  the  Fifty-five  room.  On  its  walls  are  pictures  by 
Thomas  of  the  presentation  of  the  Crimean  medals  and 
portraits  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  and  of  the  Empress 
Eugenie, 

Passing  through  another  room,  they  entered  the  chapel, 
the  gay  colouring  of  which  had  been  toned  down  by  the 
skilful  arrangement  of  the  floral  decorations.  "  Festoons 
of  roses  hung  in  graceful  curves  from  pillar  to  pillar ;  spiral 
wreaths  of  roses  were  twined  round  each  column."  The 
roses  were  all  of  the  softest  pink,  the  flowers  on  the  altar  of 
the  purest  white,  while  hydrangeas  of  the  most  delicate 
shades,  white  lilies,  and  rose  sprays  were  intermingled  with 
green  foliage  to  form  the  imposing  but  graceful  structures 
which  stood  outside  the  altar  rails  on  either  side. 

^  Times,  July  25,  1889. 


1 


^  <.  ^  i  i  <»^ 


5  5^  .5  •;  •* 


5  >  ■<:    S   N 


■^    >    "•    f    * 


V    ■<     C     V     N 

«  -  ;  ^  J  ^ 
^ ;  ^  >5  ^  5 

5  -^       X^   ; 


y.  ^ . 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE  363 

On  July  22,  1896,  the  king's  youngest  daughter,  Princess 
Maud,  was  also  married  at  Buckingham  Palace  to  her 
cousin,  Prince  Charles  of  Denmark,  now  better  known  as 
Haakon,  the  popular  King  of  Norway.  Of  her  it  was  said, 
"  Never  has  a  more  charming  and  graceful  bride  issued  from 
an  English  home,  and  never  has  a  royal  princess  looked 
happier  upon  her  wedding-day  than  Princess  Maud  of  Wales  " ; 
while  the  bearing  of  the  bridegroom  was  such  as  to  call  forth 
the  quotation,  "  to  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man." 

Queen  Victoria's  Diamond  Jubilee  was  celebrated  on 
June  22,  1897,  "  throughout  her  Empire  with  an  enthusiasm, 
a  popular  accord  and  a  splendour  which  are  without  parallel 
in  the  history  of  this  or  any  other  nation."  Before  leaving 
Buckingham  Palace  on  her  way  to  the  solemn  thanksgiving 
service  in  front  of  St.  Paul's  the  queen  pressed  the  button 
which  caused  the  transmission  of  her  gracious  message  to 
the  whole  Empire  :  "  From  my  heart  I  thank  my  beloved 
people.  May  God  bless  them  !  "  Of  her  return  to  the 
palace  Theodore  Cook  wrote,  "  The  queen  looked  verj'  tired, 
and  as  she  entered  both  her  companions  were  leaning 
forward  to  speak  to  her,  and  the  hand  of  the  Princess  of 
Wales  held  the  hand  of  the  Queen.  All  three  showed  visible 
traces  of  the  emotion  inevitable  in  so  great  a  ceremony. 
And  if  Her  Majesty  wept,  it  must  have  been  with  joy  that 
all  her  people  had  so  brilliantly  recognised  her  sovereignty, 
with  the  high  feeling  too  of  motherhood  to  all  this  mighty 
nation  that  had  acclaimed  her  Queen.  .  .  .  I  had  now  moved 
out  into  the  forecourt  of  the  palace,  when  a  cheer  from  the 
people  just  behind  the  railings  warned  me  to  look  back. 
And  then  it  was  that  I  realised  the  full  significance  of  the 
one  piece  of  decoration  on  the  palace  front.  Above  the  gold 
and  crimson  of  the  centre  balcony,  the  nurses  of  the  Duchess 


364      ROYAL   PALACES    OF   ENGLAND 

of  York  were  seen  opening  the  window.  Her  two  children 
came  out  into  the  sunHght,  in  plain  white  frocks  with  blue 
sashes ;  behind  them  was  the  slight  form  of  a  tinier  still. 
As  the  eldest  child  heard  the  cheering  of  the  crowd,  he  raised 
his  little  arm  above  his  eyes  and  saluted.  The  people's 
enthusiasm  burst  all  bounds.  They  broke  past  the  police, 
they  rushed  beneath  the  horses'  heads,  they  clambered  to 
the  very  railings  of  the  palace  gate.  The  child  seemed  to 
recognise  that  something  more  was  required  of  him.  And 
while  his  little  brother  stamped  with  glee  and  waved  his 
arms,  the  latest  heir  of  Queen  Victoria  saluted  with  both 
hands  at  once."  ^ 

Buckingham  Palace  once  more  received  the  queen  at  a 
time  when  popular  enthusiasm  ran  high.  In  March,  igoo, 
the  recent  news  of  the  relief  of  Ladysmith  caused  a  violent 
reaction  to  the  first  anxious  months  of  the  South  African 
War,  and  each  night  of  her  stay  the  people  assembled  in 
their  thousands  outside  Buckingham  Palace,  and  in  the 
fitful  glare  of  red  lights  serenaded  the  queen  until  a  late 
hour.  On  the  night  of  the  9th  she  appeared  again  at  the 
now  historic  window  to  acknowledge  the  ovation  of  twenty 
to  thirty  thousand  people  who  had  marched  from  Trafalgar 
Square,  and  on  the  following  day  reviewed  two  thousand  of 
the  Guards,  who  were  leaving  for  the  seat  of  war,  in  the 
forecourt  of  the  palace. 

Thus  in  old  age,  as  in  early  womanhood,  some  of  the  most 
eventful  days  of  Queen  Victoria  form  a  large  part  of  the 
history  of  Buckingham  Palace.  For  this  reason  the  immense 
space  in  front  is  being  utilised  for  the  National  Memorial 
under  the  direction  of  Sir  Aston  Webb.     The  base  in  course 

1  Daily  Chronicle,  June  23,  1897. 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE  365 

of  erection  is  to  hold  the  central  monument  with  the  statue 
by  Thomas  Brock  which  is  to  be  "  a  record  of  the  gathered 
years  and  weighted  meditations  and  crowning  wisdom  of  the 
great  queen." 

Shortly  after  the  accession  of  King  Edward  VII.  it  was 
stated  in  The  Times  that  the  Office  of  Works  would  effect  the 
necessary  alterations  and  repairs  required  to  enable  the  king 
and  queen  to  take  up  their  residence  in  Buckingham  Palace 
as  soon  as  possible.  "  Although  it  covers  a  considerable  area 
of  ground,  the  palace  is  by  no  means  as  commodious  as  its 
outside  appearance  would  suggest."  The  move  from  Marl- 
borough House  was  effected  in  due  course,  and  King  Edward 
held  his  first  Court  in  Buckingham  Palace  on  March  14, 
1902,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  an  innovation  which  met 
with  general  approval  on  the  part  of  those  concerned. 

On  June  23  the  king  arrived  in  London  for  his  coronation 
amid  "  a  people  full  of  joy  and  hope,  a  nation  overflowing  in 
passionate  w'elcome  and  loyalty."  Next  day  a  rumour  began 
to  spread  among  the  serried  crowds  in  the  streets  that  the 
central  figure  of  their  rejoicing  was  lying  dangerously  ill  at 
Buckingham  Palace.  The  first  bulletin  issued  by  the  king's 
surgeons,  announcing  the  contemplated  operation  and  the 
consequent  postponement  of  the  coronation,  was  posted 
about  one  o'clock  near  the  western  gate  of  the  forecourt 
yard.  Before  it  the  ever-arriving  crowd  were  made  to  pass 
in  single  file,  and  as  they  realised  what  had  happened,  the 
hearts  of  all  were  moved  to  pity.  The  bulletins  were 
anxiously  awaited,  and  for  the  first  three  nights  numbers  of 
people  lingered  for  hours  outside  the  palace,  reading  and 
discussing  the  latest  one  issued.  All  the  incidents  of  the 
illness  and  its  suddenness  ;  the  king's  desire  to  goon  with  the 
ceremonv  of  the  coronation,  even  at  a  great  personal  risk; 


3 


66      ROYAL   PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 


the  queen's  anxiety — all  appealed  to  the  chivalric  sense  of  the 
Empire,  and  the  manifestations  of  public  sympathy  and 
sorrow  were  innumerable.  Happily  the  king's  recovery  was 
practically  unchecked  from  the  time  that  the  operation  was 
performed  by  Sir  Frederick  Treves,  and  on  July  15  he  left 
Buckingham  Palace  for  the  Solent,  the  last  bulletin  posted 
outside  the  palace  being  issued  two  days  later. 

On  August  6  King  Edward  returned  to  London  and  was 
received  all  along  the  route  from  Victoria  by  the  greetings 
of  a  people  rejoicing  in  his  restoration  to  health.  Outside 
Buckingham  Palace  the  crowd  had  assumed  enormous  pro- 
portions, which  were  scarcely  increased  on  the  great  day 
itself  (August  9)  when  their  Majesties  set  out  in  full  state 
for  the  great  ceremony  of  their  coronation.  "  Their  final 
entrance  between  the  gates  of  Buckingham  Palace  was  very 
effective  indeed,  and  then  most  men  feared  that  all  was  over. 
But  there  was  a  red  cloth  spread  over  the  central  balcony, 
which  gave  room  for  the  hope  that  their  Majesties  would 
appear  once  more  before  the  people.  .  .  .  They  appeared  on 
the  balcony  in  their  crowns,  the  king  first  and  the  queen, 
clearly  by  his  invitation,  later ;  and  then  indeed  there  was 
a  storm  of  cheers.  It  was  a  memorable  moment.  There  are 
few  occasions  indeed  in  a  nation's  history  in  which  the 
emotions  of  the  people  have  been  so  stirred  and  have  been  of 
so  intense  and  varied  a  character."  ^ 

King  Edward  and  Queen  Alexandra  made  frequent  visits 
to  their  metropolis,  and  many  royal  guests  were  entertained 
at  Buckingham  Palace  during  their  reign,  including  most 
of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe.  The  glorious  art  treasures, 
including  Oriental  porcelain,  bronze  candelabra,  and  beautiful 
furniture,  which  it  contains  in  almost   countless  profusion 

'  Times,  August  11,  1902. 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE  367 

(some  of  which  were  described  in  the  Magazine  of  Art  for 
the  years  1899  and  1900  by  permission  of  the  late  queen), 
were,  in  consequence,  used  frequently  for  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  originally  intended. 

The  royal  owner  and  his  queen  gathered  around  them  a 
representative  Court,  and  so  great  was  their  popularity  that 
the  domestic  history  of  their  London  home,  spurious  or 
authentic,  was  constantly  being  kept  up  to  date  in  the  most 
minute  details.  For,  comments  a  modern  writer,  "  The 
palace,  its  inhabitants,  its  satellites  and  their  doings  are  the 
favourite  themes  of  small-talk  and  speculation,  in  the  very 
humblest  circles  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  provinces  or  of 
the  Empire."  ^ 

It  was  fitting  that  Buckingham  Palace,  the  birthplace  of 
King  Edward  and  the  royal  residence  which  he  had  made 
peculiarly  his  own,  should  have  been  also  the  scene  of  his 
last  days.  There,  with  the  characteristic  courage  that  never 
failed  him,  he  met  death  face  to  face  for  the  third  and  last 
time.  "  Unconcerned  for  his  own  estate,"  true  to  the 
purpose  which  he  kept  steadily  before  him  from  the  first 
moment  of  his  accession,  "  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  lie 
down  or  to  leave  anything  undone  which,  with  fast  failing 
strength,  he  still  could  force  himself  to  finish." 

"  As  he  received  so  he  gave — nothing  grudged,  nought  denying, 
Not  even  the  last  gasp  of  his  breath,  when  he  strove  for  us  dying."* 

Worn  out  at  last  with  the  ceaseless  toil  which  "  none  but 
the  few  behind  the  scenes  ever  see  and  know  and  recognise," 
he  lay  down  with  the  memorable  words  upon  his  lips,  "  No, 
I  will  not  give  up — I  will  go  on — I  will  work  to  the  end." 
These  proved  to  be  his  last  words.     From  that  time  he  never 

^  Escott  :  A'(«^  Edward  VII.  and  his  Court,  55. 
*  Rudyard  Kipling  :   The  Dead  King. 


368      ROYAL    PALACES   OF   ENGLAND 

rallied,  but  passed  peacefully  away  as  the  last  hour  of  Friday, 
May  6,  igio,  drew  towards  its  close,  while  yet  only  com- 
paratively few  of  his  subjects  had  even  realised  that  he  was 
seriously  ill. 

On  the  day  after  his  death  the  members  of  his  household 
and  his  personal  friends  were  admitted  to  offer  their  last 
tribute  of  affection,  as  he  lay  at  rest. 

A  week  later  the  Throne-room  at  Buckingham  Palace, 
which  in  the  meanwhile  had  been  converted  into  a  temporary 
chapel,  received  the  bier  on  its  first  stage  to  its  final  resting- 
place  in  the  royal  vault  beneath  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor. 
Here  daily  prayers  were  offered,  and  the  highest  in  the  land 
thronged  to  render  their  latest  act  of  homage  to  the  dead 
king. 

On  the  following  Tuesday,  May  17,  the  doors  of  Buck- 
ingham Palace  opened  once  more  in  the  service  of  King 
Edward,  when,  escorted  by  his  Grenadier  Guards  and 
followed  by  the  incense  of  innumerable  prayers,  the  funeral 
procession  passed  with  royal  military  honours,  amid  the 
touching  silence  of  the  serried  lines  of  mourning  subjects,  to 
the  public  lying-in-state  at  Westminster  Hall. 


Jnb^r 


Aberdeen,  Earl  of.     See  Gordon. 
Adda,  d',  Archbishop  of  Amasia,  154 
Addison,  Joseph,  306,  311 
Adelaide,  Queen  of  William  IV.,  164, 

283 
Adelicia    of    Louvaine,     Queen     of 

Henry  I..  81 
Aidan,  Saint,  11 

Albemarle,  Duke  of.     See  Monk. 
Albert,  Prince  Consort,  166,  283,  335, 

356 
Albini,  William  de,  Earl  of  Arundel, 

83 
Alcred.  King  of  Northumbria,  n 
Alencon,  Duke  of.     See  Francis. 
Alexander  III.  of  Scotland,  88,  366 

Duke  of  Fife,  361 

Alphonso,  son  of  Edward  I.,  91 
Amasia,  Archbishop  of.   See  Adda,  d'. 
Amelia  (Emily).  Princess,  313 
Amorie  Elizabeth  d",  47 
Anjou,  Duke  of.    See  Francis. 
Anne  Boleyn,  Queen  of  Henry  VHI., 
8,  121,  125,  175,  214 

of  Bohemia,  Queen  of  Richard 

II.,  6,  32,  loi 

of    Cleves,    Queen    of    Henry 

VIII..  55,  62,  66 

of  Denmark,  Queen  of  James  I., 

39.  59.  74.  139.  186,  223 

Princess,  267,  276,  305 

Queen,  4,  72,  156,  157,  159.  197, 

221,  244,  264,  267.  302,  305.  308 
Annesley,  Sir  John,  31 

R.P. 


Argyll,  Duke  of.    See  Campbell. 
Arlington  House,  348 

Earl  of.     See  Bennet. 

Arran,  Earl  of.     See  Hamilton. 
Arthur,  King,  2 
Artois,  Robert,  Count  d',  93 
Arundel,   Earls  of.    See  Albini,  de  ; 

Fitz-Alan. 
Ascham,  Roger,  134 
Audeley,  Thomas,  214 
Augusta,  Princess  of  Sa.\e-Gotha,  276 
Augustus  Frederick,  Duke  of  Sussex, 

332.  339 


Bacon,  Sir  Francis,  227 

Balliol,  Devorguilla  (wife  of  John), 

15 

Edward.  13 

John,  King  of  Scotland,  12 

Bamburgh  (Dinquaroy)  Castle,  11,  15 
Bamfield,  Colonel,  257,  258 
Barenten,    Hugh    de,    Constable   of 

Windsor,  8g 
Bassompierre,  Marquis  de,  187,  229 
Battenburg,  Princess  Henry  of,  343 
Baynards  Castle,  40 
Beaton,  David,  Cardinal  Archbishop 

of  St.  Andrews,  56 
Beauchamp,     Richard,      Bishop    of 

Salisbury,  116 
Beaufort,  Lady  Joanna.  108,  113 
Bebba,      wife     of      Ethelfrith     the 

Destroyer,  11 

B  B 


370 


INDEX 


Beche,  Nicholas  de  la,  Constable  of 

the  Tower,  i8 
Bedford,  Duke  of.     See  John. 
Bek,  Anthony,  Bishop  of  Durham,  48 
Bennet,    Henry,    Earl   of  Arlington, 

347.  348 

Berkeley  Castle,  92 

Black  Friars  of  Holborn,  The,  211 

Blanche,  daughter  of   Henry,  Duke 
of  Lancaster,  37 

Blore,  Mr.,  358 

Bliicher,  Marshal,  282 

Bonde,   Count  de,   Swedish  Ambas- 
sador, 299 

Booth,  George,  Lord  Delamere,  244 

Boreman,  Sir  William,  59 

Braose,  Maud  de,  84 
William  de,  28,  84 

Bray,  Sir  Reginald,  iig 

Bridgman,  Charles,  317 

Brienne,  Simon  de,  290 

Brouncker,  Henry,  74 

Bruger,    Louis    de.   Seigneur  de  la 
Gruthwyse,  115 

Buckingham,    Dukes    of.     See  Shef- 
field, Stafford. 

House.     See  Bucking- 

ham Palace. 

Palace,   40,    281,   344, 

349,351,353 

Queen's    Plan- 

tagenet    ball 
at.  357 

rebuilding,  353 

Burgh,  Hubert  de,  17,  46,  211 
Burghley,  Lord.     See  Cecil. 
Burgundy,  Duchess  of.  See  Margaret, 

Duke  of.     See  Philip. 

Burnet,  Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Salisbury, 

267 
Burnham,  John,  49 


Campbell,   John,   Duke  of    Argyll, 
343 


Campeggio,  Cardinal,  53 
Canterbury,     Archbishop     of.       See 

Chicheley,  Islip,  Langton. 
Canute,  24 
Capel,  Sir  Henry,  64 
Carey,  Sir  Edmund,  137 
Carlton  House,  353 
Caroline    of     Anspach,     Queen     of 
George  IL,  63, 275— 9, 
312,  317,  320 

Brunswick,  Queen  of 

George  IV.,  324 
Cary,  Mr.,  69 
Casimer,  Duke,  220 
Cassilis,  Earl  of.     See  Kennedy. 
Castlemaine,  Lady,  149,  192 
Cecil,  Robert,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  67, 
76 

William,  Lord  Burghley,  136 

Chancellor,  Richard,  57 

Charles  I.,  73,  77,  187—8,  228,  233, 

254—5,  259.  261 

II.,  4,  74,   75,  77,   141,  148, 

239,  242 

III.  of  Spain,  157 

V.  of  Spain,  61 

VI.  of  Austria,  303 

Prince  of  Denmark,  363 

Charlotte,  of  Mecklenburgh  Strelitz, 

Queen  of  George  III., 
277,  279,  281,  351—3 

Princess,  363 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  33,  102 
Chesney,  Robert,  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 

67 
Chesterfield,  Earl  of.     See  Dormer. 
Chicheley,     Henry,    Archbishop    of 

Canterbury,  no 
Christian  IV.  of  Denmark,  138 
Churchill,     John,     Duke    of     Marl- 
borough, 70 
Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marl- 
borough, 294,  304 
Cigoinny,  Engelard  de,  4 
Clarence  House,  282 
Clarendon,  Lord  Chancellor,  191 


INDEX 


371 


Claypole,     Elizabeth,     daughter    of 

Oliver  Cromwell,  191 
Cleveland,  Duchess  of.     See  Palmer. 
Cobham,  Dame  Eleanor,  Duchess  of 
Gloucester,  1 14 

Lord.     See  Oldcastle. 

Colliston,  Thomas,  297 

Conway,  Edward,  Lord,  255 

Cope,  Sir  Walter,  288 

Cope's  Castle.     See  Holland  House. 

Corfe  Castle,  85 

Cornish,  Master  William.  50. 

Cornwall,  Earl  of.     See  Gaveston. 

Coucy,  Madame  de,  105 

Courtney,  Joan  de,  100 

Cranmer,    Thomas,    Archbishop    of 

Canterbury,  177,  215 
Creighton,  Mrs.,  203 
Cromwell,  Mary,  191 

Oliver,  188,  191,  237,  263, 

289 

Richard,  238 

Thomas,  74,  248 


D. 


Dartford  Priory,  66 

David  n.  of  Scotland,  6,  13 

Davys,    George,    Bishop    of    Peter- 
borough, 329,  335 

Delamere,  Lord.     See  Booth. 

Delany,  Mrs.  (Mary  Granville),  321 

Denham,  Sir  John,  150 

Denmark     House.       See     Somerset 
House. 

Denny,  Sir  Anthony,  215 

Depedene,  John,  49 

Despenser,  Hugh,  5 
Lady,  107 

De  Vere,  Edward,  Earl  of  Oxford,  45 

Dinquaroy.     See  Bamburgh  Castle. 

Dorchester,  Countess  of.    See  Sedley. 

Dormer,  Jane,  250 


Dormer,  Philip,  Earl  of  Chesterfield, 

198 
Dorset,  Marquess  of.     See  Grey. 
Douglas,  Archibald,  13 
Dover  Castle.  85 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  58 
Dudley,  Robert,   Earl   of    I-eicester. 

133.  251 
Durham,     Bishops    of.       See     Bek, 

Pudsey. 
Dutch  House  at  Kew,  The,  65 
Dymock,  Sir  John,  33 


Eadric,  the  traitor,  24 

Edmund  of  Langley,  Duke  of  York. 

15 

of  Woodstock,  3 

son  of  Edward  HI.,  75 

Edward  L,  8,  12,  17,  87 

IL,  7.  18,  29,  30,  91,  92 

IIL,  9,  18,  30,  48,  91,  92 

IV.,  20,  47,  50 

v.,  20 

VI.,  21,38,56,  178,  179 

Duke  of  Kent,  326,  327 

York,  105 

Prince  (son  of  George  HI.), 

323.  325 

the  Black  Prince,  19,  47,  100 

the  Confessor,  24,  41,  79 

the  Goldsmith,  25,  26 


Eleanor  of  Castile,  Queen  of  Edward 

I-.5 

of  Guinne,  Queen  of  Henry 

n.,  83 

of  Provence,  Queen  of  Henry 

III..  87 
Elizabeth,   daughter   of   Charles   I  , 
260 — I 

daughter  of  James  I.,  64, 

225 


B  B  2 


372 


INDEX 


Elizabeth,  of  York,  Queen  of  Henry 
VII.,  21,  34,  52 

Queen,  38,  51,  58,  64,  69, 

70,  76,  131,  181— 4,  217, 
220 

Woodville,      Queen      of 

Edward  IV.,  117 

Elsynge  Hall,  70 
Eltham  Palace,  48 

Ely,  Bishop  of,  76.     See  also  Long- 
champ. 
Enfield  Manor,  70 

Park,  76 

Eric,  King  of  Sweden,  62,  133 
Eslington,  John  de,  12 
Ethelfrith  the  Destroyer,  11 
Eugenius  IV.,  Pope,  115 


F. 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  143 
Falconbridge,  Lord,  191 
Fawkes,  Guy,  222 
Feodore,  Princess,  330 
Ferrers,  George,  56 
Feversham,  Lord,  155,  266 
Fife,  Duke  of.     See  Alexander. 
Finch,  Daniel,  Earl  of  Nottingham, 
289 

Heneage,  Earl  of  Nottingham, 

289 

Sir  John,  289 

Finland,  Duke  of.     See  John. 
Fitz-Alan,  Henry,  Earl  of  Arundel,  72 
Fitz  Other,  Walter,  79 

Fitzroy,  Henry,  Duke  of  Grafton,  75 
Fog,  Captain,  142 
Forster,  Claudius,  15 

Sir  John,  15 

Forthey,  Samuel,  65 
Fotheringhay  Castle,  15 
Fox,  George,  191 

Francis,  Duke  of  Alengon,  62 
Duke  of  Anjou,  48,  219 


Frederica,    Princess    (of    Hanover), 

203 
Frederick,  Elector  of  Saxony,  127 

Prince  of  Wales,  64,  201, 

313 

the  Count  Palatine,  225 

William,  Prince  of  Prussia, 

285 


Gaveston,  Piers,  Earl  of  Cornwall, 

91 
Gay,  John,  315 
George  I.,  159,  198,  269,  308,  310 

II.,  159,  200,  274,  312,  319 

IIL,  65,  159,  163,  279,  281,351 

IV.,  281,353 

Prince  of  Denmark,  153,  159, 

244 

Glasgow,  Bishop  of.     See  Wyshart. 

Gloucester,  Dukes  of.  See  Hum- 
phrey, Richard,  William  Henry. 

Gordon,  George,  Earl  of  Aberdeen, 
359 

Goring,  George,  Lord,  345,  347 

House.    See  Arlington  House. 

Grafton,  Duke  of.     See  Fitzroy. 

Manor,  75 

Grandison,  George,  Lord,  74 
Granville,  Mary.     See  Delany,  Mrs. 
Gray,  Lady  Mary,  134 
Greenwich  Hospital,  60 

Palace,  51 

Grey,  Lady  Georgina,  203 
Lady  Jane,  22 

Sir  Ralph,  14 

— —   Thomas,   Marquis   of   Dorset, 

75 

Walter     de,     Archbishop     of 


York,  211 


H. 


Halkett,  Anne,  Lady,  257 
Hamilton,  James,  Earl  of  Arran,  51, 
i8i 


INDEX 


373 


Hampton  Court,  Manor  of,  169 

Palace,  169 

John, 115 


Hangiers,  Sir  Charles  de,  44 

Harold,  King,  4,  42 

Harrison,  Major-General.  144,  259 

Hatefelde,  James,  50 

Hatfield  House,  76 

Havering-atte-Bower  Palace,  41,  45 

Hawkesmore,  Nicholas,  301 

Hengham,  Roger  de,  28 

Henrietta  Maria,  Queen  of  Charles  I., 

39.  73.  74.  192,  228,  255,  256 
Henry,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  son  of 
Charles  I.,  74,  261 

I.,  67,  80,  8r 

H..  2,  8,  12,  25,  82 

HI.,  5,  12,  17,  25,  48,  86 

IV.,  49,  51,  70,  103,  105,  106, 

107 

v.,  109 

VI.,20,40,  51,60,  112,  114,  115 

—    vn.,  21, 41, 50,  61, 118 

Vin.,  I.  35,  50,  53,61,  65,  72, 

74 — 6,  128,  170,  205,  213 

Duke  of  Lancaster,  37 

Earl  of  Huntingdon,  11 

of  St.  Albans,  169  (note) 

son  of  James  I.,  252 

Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  41 

Mr.,  231,  259 

Sir  Philip,  223 

Hohenlohe-Langenburg,  Prince,  330 
Holland  House,  288,  290,  311 
Horsley,  Roger  de,  12 
Huddleston,  Father,  242 
Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  40, 

51 
Huntingdon,  Earl  of.     Set  Henry. 
Hyde  Park,  289 


I. 


Ida,  King  of  Northumbria,  11 
Isabel  de  Valoise,  Queen  of  Richard 

n.,  43 


Isabella  of  France,  Queen  of 
Edward  II.,  5,  92 

Islip,  Simon,  Archbishop  oi  Canter- 
bury, 96 


J. 


James  I.,  22,  39,  72,  74.  76,   137,   184, 
221,  252 

II..  153.  196,  243.  263 

I.  of  Scotland,  108 

Edward,     Prince    of     Wales 

(Elder  Pretender).  154,  265 

Jane  Seymour,  Queen  of  Henry  VIII., 

126,  175,  176 
Jeffreys,  Judge,  153 
Jermyn,  Henry,  Earl  of  St.  Albans, 

75 
Joan  of  Navarre,  Queen  of  Henry  IV., 

44 

Queen  of  Scots,  42 

John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  112 

Duke  of  Finland,  133 

King,  4,  7,  12,  17,  83,  85 

of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster, 

37.  103 
Jourdemain,  Margery,  witch  of  Eye, 

"3 
Juxon,  William,   Bishop  of  London, 
145,  232 


K. 


Katherine    of     Aragon,    Queen    of 
Henry  VIII..  16,  170 

of  Braganza,   Queen   of 

Charles  II.,  39,  191 

Howard,       Queen       of 

Henry  VIII.,  127,  177 

Parr,   Queen   of   Henry 

VIII..  178 

Katrington.  Thomas,  31 

Kempton  Park,  46 

Kennedy,  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Cassilis,  56 


374 


INDEX 


Kensington  Palace,  287 

Chapel,  334 
Gardens,         294, 

302 
library,  332 
rebuilding,  297 

Kent,  Duke  of.     See  Edward. 
William,  64,  308 — 11 

Kew  Palace,  64 

Keys,  Henry,  134 

Killigrew,  William,  47 

Kilvington,  Hugh,  13 

King's  Langley  Palace,  75 

Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  296 

Knights  Hospitallers,  The,  169 


L. 


Labrech,  Sir  Charles  de,  44 

Lacy,  Henry  de,  28 

Lancaster,    Dukes    of.      See    Henry, 

John. 
Langton,    Stephen,    Archbishop     of 

Canterbury,  17 
Lehzen,  Madame,  329 
Leicester,    Earls    of.      See    Dudley, 
Montfort. 

House,  272 

Leiningen,  Princess  of,  325 
Leo,  King  of  Armenia,  49 
Lewer,  Robert,  5 
Lewes,  Battle  of,  89 

Lincoln,  Bishop  of.     See  Chesney. 

Lisle,  Brian  de,  36 

London,  Bishop  of.     Ses  Juxon. 

Tower  of,  16 

Longchamp,     William,    Bishop     of 

Ely,  82 
Louis  Vin.,  of  France,  17 

son     of    Philippe     Augustus, 

King  of  France,  85 

Louise,  Princess,  Duchess  of  Argyll, 

343 

of  Wales,  361 


M. 

Mac  Gregor,  Lady,  203 
Malcolm  II.  of  Scotland,  81 
Mandeville,  Geoffrey  de,  16 
Manners,  Henry,  Earl  of  Rutland,  71 
Marble  Arch,  the,  354 
March,  Earl  of.     See  Mortimer. 
Marche,  Thomas  de  la,  31 
Margaret  of  Anjou,  Queen  of  Henry 
VI.,  6 

of      France,      Queen      of 

Edward  I.,  43 

Duchess      of     Burgundy, 

52 
Marie  de  Medici,  Queen,  156 
Marlborough,       Duchess     of.       See 
Churchill. 

Duke        of.         See 

Churchill. 
Mary,  daughter  of  Charles  I.,  230 

Duchess  of  Teck,  343 

of  Modena,  Queen  of  James  II., 

265 

Queen,  22,  53,  54,  57,  64,  180, 

248,  250 

of  Scots,  16 

of    William     III.,    60, 

193—5.  293,  295—6 
Masham,  Abigail,  304 
Maud,  Princess  of  Wales,  363 
Middlemore,  Henry,  71 
Miraflores,  Castle  of,  52 
Monk,  George,  Duke  of  Albemarle, 

39.  77.  148,  263 
Montagu,  Edward,  Earl  of  Sandwich, 

148 
Montfichet,  Richard  de,  42 
Montfort,  Simon  de,  Earl  of  Leicester, 

88—9 
Mont  Joux,  Hospital  of,  36 
Moor,  The,  in  Hertfordshire,  115 
Mordaunt,  Lord,  151 
Mornington,  Lady,  203 
Morrison,  Sir  Charles,  76 
Mortain,  Earl  of.     See  Robert. 


INDEX 


375 


Mortimer,  Edmund  de,  Earl  of  March, 
107 
Roger,  of  Wigmorc,  18 

Mountjoy,  Charles,  Lord,  16 

Mowbray,  Robert  de,  Earl  of  North- 
umberland, So 

Mulberry       Garden,      Westminster, 
345—6 


N. 


Napier.  Lady,  203 
Nash,  architect,  353 
Nasr-ed-Din,  361 
Neville,  Cecily.  15 — 16 
Newn,  Colonel,  142 
Nicholas  I.  of  Russia,  166 
Nicholson,  Margaret,  2S1 
Noailles,  Mons.  de,  217 
Nonesuch  Palace,  72 
Norden,  Robert,  297 
Northumberland,  Earls  of.    See  Mow- 
bray, Percy. 
Nottingham,  Earls  of.     See  Finch. 
House,  289,  290 


O. 


Oatlands  Palace,  74,  177 
Observants'  Church,  Greenwich,  53 
Odiham  Castle,  4.  6 
Odo,  the  Goldsmith  of  Westminster, 

25 
Oldcastle,  Sir  John  (Lord  Cobham), 

109,  no 

Oxford,  Earl  of.     See  De  Vera. 


Palmer,  Barbara,  Duchess  of  Cleve- 
land, 74,  192 
Parke,  Colonel,  158 
Payne,  Thomas,  108 


Pembroke.  Earls    of.     See    Herbert, 
Philip. 

Eleanor,  Countess  of,  5 

Penda,  1 1 
Penn,  Sibell,  178 

Percy,  Henry,  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land, 13 
Peter  the  Great.  299 
Peterborough,  Bishop  of.    See  Davys. 
Pevensey  Castle,  107,  108 
Philip,  Archduke  of  Austria,  120 

Duke  of  Burgundy,  41,  61 

Earl  of  Pembroke,  71 

Philippa,  Queen  of  Edward  HI.,  6, 

43.  68,  99 
Pirgo,  42,  46 
Pius  II.,  Pop«,  it6 
Pope,  Alexander,  315 
Portchester  Castle,  6,  8 
Pudsey.  Hugh,  Bishop  of  Durham,  82 


R. 


Radcliffe,  John,  296 

Randolf,  Friar  John,  44 

Rede,  John,  74 

Richard  II.,  19,  33,  43,  49.  102 

III.,  117 

Duke  of  Gloucester.  10,  41 

Duke  of  York,  15,  41 

Richmond  Palace,  60 
Robert,  Count  dWrtois,  93 

Earl  of  Mortain,  46 

Earl  of  Sahsbur>',  67 

Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  67 
Rosamund's  bower  at  Woodstock,  67 
Rothernale,  Sir  John,  49 

Rubens,  Peter  Paul,  208 
Rupert,  Prince,  148.  150,  152 
Rutland,  Earl  of.     Sec  Manners. 


Sadler,  Sir  Ralph.  56 

St.  Albans,  Earl  of.     See  Jermyn. 


376 


INDEX 


St.    Andrews,   Archbishop    of.      See 

Beaton. 
St.  Ermin,  William  de,  42 
St.  James's  Palace,  247 
St.  John,  John,  of  Basing,  5 
St.  Sauveur  le  Vicomte,  Castle  of,  31 
St.  Valery,  Walter  de,  169  (note) 
Sale,  Mr.,  329 

Salisbury,   Bishops   of.      See    Beau- 
champ,  Burnet,  Roger. 
Earls     of.       See      Cecil, 

Robert. 
Sandwich,  Earl  of.     See  Montagu. 
Savoy  Bernard  de,  87 

Palace,  36 

Peter  of,  36 

Sedley,  Catharine,  Countess  of  Dor- 
chester, 350 
Seymour,  Anne,  widow  of  Protector 
Somerset,  39,  47 

Edward,    Lord    Protector 

Somerset,  38,  39,  130,  179 
Shaw,  Sir  John,  51 
Sheffield,  Charles  Herbert,  351 

John,  Duke  of  Buckingham, 

348 
Shene  Priory,  52 
Sheridan,  Mrs.  Thomas,  203 
Sidney,  Algernon,  74 
Sigismund,  Emperor  of  Germany,  49, 

III 
Smithfield,  tournament  at,  19 
Sodor    and    Man,    Bishop    of.      See 

Wilson. 
Somerset  (Denmark)  House,  38,  256, 

351 

Lord  Protector.     See  Sey- 
mour. 

Stafford,  Edward,  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, 123 
Henry,   Duke   of   Bucking- 
ham, 70 

Lady  Anne,  107 

Stallenge,  William,  345 
Stephen,  King,  16,  24 
Strathfieldsaye,  Manor  of,  159 


Suffolk,  Earl  of.     See  Pole. 
Sussex.  Duchess  of.    See  Underwood. 
Duke  of.    See  Augustus. 


Tandridge,  Manor  of,  74 
Teck,  Duchess  of.     See  Mary. 
Theobalds,  76 

Thomas,  Count  of  Flanders,  87 
Thompson,  Isaac,  298 
Thornhill,  Sir  James,  309,  310 
Throckmorton,  Sir  Nicholas,  134 
Tichborne,  Sir  Benjamin,  3 
Tomlinson,  Colonel,  230,  262 
Torrington,  Earl  of.     See  Herbert. 
Tyler,  Wat,  100 


U. 


Underwood,    Cecilia,     Duchess    of 

Sussex,  333 
Urswick,  Dr.  Christopher,  120 
Uvedale,  Sir  William,  8 


Valeran,  Lord,  Earl  of  St.   Paul's, 

100 
Vanburgh,  Sir  John,  70 
Vere,  Lady  Susan,  223 
Victoria,   Queen,  63,   165,   283,   326, 

333.  337,  354.  363 
Visconti,  John  de,  31 


W. 

Waller,  Sir  William,  3—4,  143 
Wallop,  Matthew,  2 
Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  95,  314 
Walsingham,  William  de,  30 


INDEX 


377 


Warenne,  John  of,  28 
Waterman,  Roger.  25 
Waynflete,  William,  115 
Westbury,  William,  116 
Westminster  Abbey,  79 
Westminster  Palace,  23 

duels  at, 


31 


repairs  at. 

Whalley,  Colonel,  188 
Whitchcott,  Colonel.  145 
Whitehall,  29,  205 

banqueting  hall,  245 

Chapel  Royal.  245 

playhouse  at,  242 

Whitelock.  Bulstrode,  147 
White  (Stone)  Lodge,  63 
William  I.,  24,  79 

II.,  24 

III.,  193,  196,  300 

IV.,  164,  283,  354 

Henry,  Duke  of  Gloucester. 

194 

of  Bolton,  13 

Prince  of  Orange,  155 

the  Lion,  King  of  Scotland,  8 

Wilson,   Thomas,   Bishop   of   Sodor 

and  Man,  319 
Winchester,  Bishop  of.     See  Wyke- 
ham. 

Castle,  2,  4 


Windsor  (Windelsore,  Wyndisore; 
Castle,  78 

Witchcott.  Colonel.  145 

Wolseley,  Field- Marshal  Lord,  203 

Wolsey,  Thomas,  Cardinal,  G2.  1O9 — 
70,  205,  212 

Woodstock,  G7,  158 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  150,  194,  200, 
301 

Wulfnoth,  Abbot  of  Westminster.  24 

Wyatville,  Sir  Jeffrey,  163 

Wychwood  Forest,  67 

Wykeham,  William,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, 98 

Wynne,  Captain,  architect,  349 

Wyshart.  Robert,  Bishop  of  Glas- 
gow, 7 


Y. 

York,  Archbishop  of.     See  Grey. 

Castle,  8 

Dukes  of.     See  Edmund,   Ric- 

hard. 

Palace.     See  Whitehall. 


Z. 


ZoucHE.  Alan  la,  28 


BRADBURY,    AGNEW,     &    CO.     LD.,     PRINTERS      LONDON     AND    TONBRIDGK 

R.P  C  C 


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